FIFA World Cup 2010: Paraguay Vs Spain – European Champions Spain aiming to become World Champions
As the FIFA World Cup 2010 is coming to its end, a whole new picture is coming out after the huge upsets that have taken place. First, France getting knocked out by the Mexicans, then we saw how the Italians had to go home because of the Slovakian side. Later, we saw the favourite English side being knocked out by the Germans. Then yesterday we saw how the Brazilians were knocked out by the mighty Dutch side. Today, Spain is going to set its feet on the ground to make history, if they qualify for the semi finals. Spain, in their World Cup career, have never been a part of the last four and have never tasted the Semi Final stage. Paraguay, however, have been really impressive throughout the qualifying stage, as they defeated the Brazilians back then. Now, the Paraguayans are also waiting to get a little taste of competition and beat Spain to make another big upset of the FIFA World Cup 2010.
The Spaniards took a shaky start at the FIFA World Cup 2010. They were paired up with the very impressive defensive side, Switzerland. The other two were Honduras and the team that ended as runner ups of their group, Chile. They started off by facing the very impressive Swiss side. The Swiss were really well organized at the back and did not let the possession holders make their mark in the midfield and did not let them score any goals. The Swiss played good quality counter attacking football and scored a goal against the European champions, to win the match 1-0. The Spaniards were just shocked and had to win the next two matches in order to advance to the next round.
Their next match was against Honduras, in which David Villa performed really well and scored both the goals for Spain to make them victorious that night. The Spanish could see the next round coming but they had a one last hurdle to cross. Chile were their last opponents and they had to win this match to make it to the pre quarter finals. Spain performed really well, as they kept most of the ball, until Villa saw the Chile goalkeeper rushing forward and Villa took a shot from his weaker foot, into the goal, to make it one for his country. Later, a brilliant team move by the Spanish side was put into the net by Iniesta. Right when the goal was scored, on the other end of the 18 yard box, Fernando Torres had dived and helped Spain ease their pain as the defender of Chile was red carded. Chile were down to ten men but they still did not give up as they went on to score a goal right when the second half started. The match ended 2-1, with both teams qualifying but Spain topping the group and moving on to the quarter finals to face the very impressive side Portugal.
Portugal did not give Spain too much of a tough time, as they played defensively against the European Champions. Soon, David Villa found the net after the Portuguese goalkeeper had denied them time and time again. That one goal put the Spanish side through to the quarter finals.
The Paraguayans, however, have had a different run in the FIFA World Cup 2010. They were paired up with the defending champions, Italy, the underdogs New Zealand and Slovakia. Their first match was against the Italians. The Paraguayans made an impressive start by scoring a goal in the first half, but the defending champions came back to end the match in a 1-1 draw. Paraguayans then went on to face the Slovakians. The match was totally one-sided as the Paraguayans dominated both the halves and scored one goal in both. The match ended with the final score line 2-0 for the South Americans. Paraguay’s last match was against the underdogs, New Zealand. Paraguay needed a draw to qualify for the next round, and they just did what they needed. The match ended in a goalless draw, as the Paraguayans advanced to the next round to meet the Asian side Japan, in the pre quarter finals.
The match with the Blue Samurais was a thriller. However, not many opportunities were made by the Japanese, as they concentrated too much on defending rather than attacking, while the Paraguayans kept on trying to find gaps. 90 minutes were not enough to settle the matter, and the match went into extra time and ended in a goalless draw; thus, it was to be decided through penalties, whether who would qualify for the next round. The Paraguayans struck the penalties beautifully, scored on all of them, and qualified for the quarter finals after beating the Japanese on penalties.
Now, Paraguay and Spain, both, are looking forward to making history. None of the two teams have qualified for the semi finals and a win means a lot to both the teams. Spain will try to maintain ball possession, which they’re notoriously famous for, while the Paraguayans will defend with all their might. The chances for the Paraguayans are 20% while the Spanish side stands 80% to qualify for the semi finals.
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