Russia’s (1) Iron Curtain holds back the Spanish (1) Armada to win on PKs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAAuptp9QHU&feature=onebox
Spain won the statistical game and lost the one that really matters. Statistics sometime do and sometime do not tell the story of the match. Not so in this one. Spain had 79% (!!!) possession, 1114(!!!) passes 90% pass completion and 9 shots on target. All this and $2 will buy you a cup of coffee but not a World Cup match. The Russian by contrast had 1 (!!!) shot on goal (and 19 fouls) for the entire 120 minutes of the match, a penalty kick, which may or may not have been justified, and scored. The match was not a good advertisement for the beautiful game. If the Spanish thought that they could put their Russian opponent to sleep with their traditional Tiki Taka game, their strategy backfired. The Russian put up an Iron Curtain with 11 players behind the ball and let the Spaniard do their passing drills as if it was a training session. Spain did not exhibit a will to win and had no clue of how to break down the Russian defense. Keeping Iniesta on the bench for 70 minutes was a terrible mistake as only he can find the seams for himself or others to score. Finally, as is so classic in Penalty Kick shootout, the team that missed the opportunities during the game, also missed two of five penalty kicks. By contrast Russia’s morale was at its highest and they confidently converted all their penalty kicks. A strange and frustrating match to watch which frankly neither team deserved to win. Adios Spain.
Croatia (1) out nerved the Danes (1) winning 3;2 on Penalty Kicks.
Schmeichel’s heroics in stopping a Penalty Kick late in overtime and two more during the Penalty Kick shootout were not enough. The Danes beat themselves when they missed 3 out of the 5 penalties or is it credit to the Croat goaltender who stopped three penalties. Either way Croatia moves on to the Quarter Finals. The match started with a flurry of two quick goals one for each side inside the first 5 minutes. Yet it went into overtime when both team could not find the net and frankly didn’t threaten it much either. The football was of low quality but of high intensity. Both teams tried very hard to decide the match in regulation time. Their styles were similar direct, long high crosses and (too) frequent possession changes. The ball was in the air way too much with too many headers going back and forth. The match was basically even and it could have been decided either way. Denmark looked the more aggressive at the start of the overtime period in search of the winning goal. Luca Modric, Croatia’s captain with his vision, inventiveness and precision passes was outstanding even as he missed a penalty kick late in overtime. He deserves to be named in the company of such elite midfield playmakers as Platini, Pirlo and Iniesta. The Penalty Kick shootout was nerve wracking for both sets of supporters as against the odds both goaltenders had the advantage, or was it that the Danes lost their nerve by missing three?
Leave a Reply