World Cup 2010: Germany 0-0 Spain - Half Time Report
In what was one of the most eagerly anticipated game of the World Cup so far, both teams have cancelled each other out in the first half. The pace of the game was extremely slow with Spain dominating possession but doing nothing with it and the Germans closing them down, trying to win the ball back. The Semi-Final has so far been a massive disappointment, with large spells of meaningless play.
Arguably the most interesting moment of the game came in the 4th minute, as a football fan invaded the pitch and had to be escorted off it by the security officials.
The possession in the first 14 minutes was over 70% in favour of the Spanish but they did not really do anything with it. Xavi, Iniesta and Alonso moved the ball from side to side, looking for open spaces but there were none available. The Germans, on occasion, dispossessed one of the Spanish players but did not really manage to test the opposing goalkeeper, Iker Casillas.
The first shot, of note, on goal from the Germans came in the 32nd minute when Trochowski, who replaced the impressive Muller, tried to catch Casillas by surprise with a low shot from about 30 yards out. The Spanish goalkeeper had to dive quickly to his left to avoid an embarrassing mistake. The Germans did not manage to trouble Casillas from the resulting corner and the danger was averted.
It was not until injury time when there was a serious opportunity to open the deadlock. After good work by Klose to turn his marker, his through ball found the on-rushing Ozil. The Werder Bremen midfielder's first touch, though, was not up to mark and it gave Ramos the time to make a tackle. Ozil went down under contact from the Spanish right-back and looked at the referee for a penalty kick but the referee waved play on.
Replays showed that Ramos did indeed clip the ankles of the German midfielder but the contact was just outside the box, very close to the line. The German midfielder deserved a free-kick at least though and looked disappointed with the referee's decision. There were no major protests, though. The referee blew the whistle, indicating half time, with the score still at 0-0.
Fans will be hoping the next half is nothing like the first. There were some empty seats in the stadium visible at half time, and after a very dry first half, it was no surprise. The half though, comes as no surprise since this is something that has been observed in all of Spain's games. Germany's fast paced game has been completely cancelled out because Spain have all the possession and are monopolizing the play entirely. Spain Coach Vicente del Basque will be the happier of the two coaches, as the game has gone according to plan for his team.
It looks like the match will be decided by a single goal, if not penalties. The game needs a goal so that both teams start to play more freely. Let us hope the goal comes in the early stages of the second half and so the fans get to watch the football they expect at this level.
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