FIFA World Cup 2010 – Iker Casillas advised by Pepe Reina for the penalty save
Spanish fans are still overwhelmed about their victory over the South American side, Paraguay. The match was a tough call for the Spaniards as they did not manage to score a goal in the first half and the Paraguayans did what they had to, to prevent the Spanish midfield from possessing the ball.
The Paraguayans showed the Spanish giants what they were made of, in the quarter final clash between the two sides. The Paraguayans showed the World that they were ready for this challenge and actually came out on top in the first half when the players left the field with the score tied 0-0 and both the teams failing to score a goal.
Right before the one hour mark, Gerrard Pique fouled the Benfica man and gifted Paraguay with a golden chance to score a goal over the penalty and cause another upset. Sadly, for the South American fans, Iker Casillas was able to make a fine save and dived right where the shot was struck. Later on, Iker Casillas revealed that it was not only his “class” that led him to make a save, but it was Liverpool’s Pepe Reina who told him which way to go. He told the press:
"I was nervous but also very happy for the team. Pepe Reina, who is a phenomenon, let me know which way Cardozo would strike the penalty and I saved it.”
Later on, Spain won a penalty but Xabi Alonso was unable to score from it and the deflected shot was caught by the goalkeeper. Soon, Spain won a free kick near the half line, which was taken by Xavi and was passed on to Iniesta. Iniesta, with the help of Fabregas, was able to take the ball near the 18 yard box and passed it on to his club team mate Pedro who took a shot and it struck the pole and caught Villa’s feat. Villa, on top of his form, did not make a mistake and struck the shot beautifully on to the pole, as it drove past the goal line for the first and only goal of the match.
Spain’s captain Iker Casillas, later on, even said that this match did not give us a satisfying result and we are not very happy with the performance, although we won the match. He added on by saying that they need to improve their style of play in case they want to win the match against the Germans. Iker Casillas told the press that he believes the Germans are a really young and strong side and they are going to be a tough competition for them. Spain has already defeated the hot favourites, Portuguese side in this tournament and are now looking forward to become the World Champions for the first time. Nevertheless, they have one last hurdle in their way, which is, Germany, who have defeated two hot favourite teams, England and Argentina to qualify for the semi finals.
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