World Cup Soccer 2010: Revisiting Group H performances in South Africa, 2010
With a pre-tournament favourite tag to lift the golden trophy, Spain was expected to defeat all the teams and top Group H with ease. However, this job became very difficult an easy one as every team wanted to defeat them. Chile, Switzerland and Honduras completed Group H. The Chileans were coming into the tournament after beating Brazil and Argentina. Switzerland had not conceded a goal in four matches of the 2006 World Cup and only went out on penalty shootout. Honduras was making their comeback in the tournament after their debut in Spain 1982.
Honduras 0 Chile 1:
The team from South America was in control throughout the Group H opener. Honduras failed to find their feet for any durable time and it was down to the poor finishing from the Chilean strikers which kept the score to one-nil. Jean Beausejour scored the only goal of the match in the first half to give Chile their first World Cup victory since the 1962 tournament.
Spain 0 Switzerland 1:
The Swiss team had decided to keep it tight at the back for the Spaniards and to score goals only through counter attacks if possible. Their real competition was against Chile and Honduras for a second spot finish in the group. A draw was the best possibility that the Swiss ever wanted. The Spanish side kept the ball in their control with a staggering 72% possession in the first half but looked short of ideas to put the ball behind the Swiss defence line. Disaster struck Spain in the seventh minute of the second half as the defenders could not clear their lines from a Swiss counter attack. Gelson Fernandes scored for Switzerland. The illustrious Spanish side could not find an equaliser which gave this World Cup its first and probably the biggest, shock.
Chile 1 Switzerland 0:
This match was marred by the card-happy referee who showed nine yellow cards in total. Valon Behrami was able to get tow in only the 38th minute of the match, leaving a 10-man Swiss team to play for pride. However, the Swiss went on to break Italy’s record of not letting in a goal for 550 minutes in World Cup matches, starting from the 1994 tournament. The Swiss defence was humbled 8 minutes later after creating a new record as South African-born Mark Gonzalez scored the only goal of the match with less than a quarter of the match to play.
Spain 2 Honduras 0:
Spain was favourites to get their World Cup campaign back on track. Anything less than a win would end their dreams for at least the next four years. They played this match with more attacking threat. Both goals came from David Villa on either side of the interval.
Switzerland 0 Honduras 0:
Switzerland needed a win from this match with a handsome margin to book their place in the Round of 16 but could not find any luck in breaking the Honduras defence in a match which lacked any clear chances for either team.
Chile 1 Spain 2:
A win for the Spaniards would not only power them into the knockout stage but also enable them to top Group H. This could avoid a clash against Brazil in the Round of 16. David Villa was again in the thick of most of the Spanish attacks and got the opener from a long range shot in an open goal. Andres Iniesta scored the second as Marco Estrada was shown the second yellow card in the build-up to this goal in the 37th minute. Chile fought hard in the second half as Rodrigo Millar got one back in only the second minute after the restart but Spain held on to win the match and the group in process.
Spain will tie up with their neighbours Portugal in the Round of 16 while Chile will face their fellow South Americans Brazil.
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