So the marathon begins with a 3 match night and as much as the drama of a late winner sounds exciting the Spain - Portugal match had more action in the first 30 minutes than the 2 preceding matches had in their combined 3 hours. More on that in a bit.
I've done this sort of thing before but staying up at night tends to make one peckish and as much as a cup of tea on a cold night with some biscuits tends to work there's a danger in inviting a degree of urinary urgency that can become inconvenient. Watermelon is also not a useful substitute in that regard.
The choice of snack for such a drawn out exercise also has a bearing on your overall calorie intake and even if you're involved enough to sweat on every pass you are not, actually, sweating at all. Carrot and celery sticks with water seem unfitting of this sort of occasion and I'm not big on the idea of chips. For now I'm making do with reducing the stock of whatever is on hand and suppressing guilt by making empty promises to myself about future physical activity to offset weight gain.
Speaking of weight gain, Luis Suarez must enjoy a team buffet. A polarising figure whose antics are the kind that push gamesmanship to the brink of cheating and far too often actual cheating. If he's on your side you marvel at his calculating acumen when he deliberately handballs on the goal line to prevent a loss and celebrates when the opposing team missed the resulting penalty kick. That he might have the audacity to do this at a (previous) world cup speaks to his character even more. He also has been known to bite opposing players.
Australia and Uruguay of course have something of a history stretching far into the past when it comes to World Cups. Not just the qualification playoffs in 2005 and 2001, but also the Continental Cup in 1997 and the infamous friendly in 1974 that was anything but and resulted in Australia's best (certainly one of the better ones) player Ray Baartz missing the World Cup.
So to watch the experienced Suarez and Cavanni leading a rejuvenated lineup and be frustrated by a lack of goals, if not chances, was comforting. Egypt, for their part, looked capable without threatening too much to actually score. Their star forward, Mohammed Salah, remained on the bench throughout the night desperately racing for fitness after being injured in a collision with a play to feature in the final match of the day.
As much fun as it was to derive pleasure from the suffering of a talented biter there wasn't much in the way for the casual observer to be entertained. Uruguay drew a sharp save or two from the oldest player at the World Cup (sorry, it's not Tim Cahill) and even hit the post in their quest for an elusive goal while Egypt managed a few dangerous moments that never really elevated into anything more.
Then deep into the game a set piece gave Giminez the chance to outjump two defender and head the ball beyond the keepers reach for a winning goal with barely a few minutes of the game remaining to play.
Then the sequence repeated itself with Morocco being the more likely of the two sides in the game against Iran to score a goal but instead of finally snatching a winner at the death it was Iran who scored an unexpected late winner from a set piece. To be fair it was scored by a Moroccan, Bouhaddouz, but to the benefit of Iran. They were justifiably happy with the result and in a roundabout way a good performance by Iran helps Australia's cause insofar as both teams represent the Asian Confederation and the better they perform the more likely an increase in the number of available qualification spots in future. The Saudi capitulation in the opening match was therefore also bad for Australia.
With the absence of any villain on either side and a result that kills Morocco's hopes of progressing past the group stage and only keeps Iran's ones alive on paper it was the footballing equivalent of a rice cake.
The Spain - Portugal match on the other hand was a rich chocolate cake even before the match started with the news that on the heels of announcing he was the incoming coach for Real Madrid Julen Lopetegui was immediately sacked as coach for Spain. Only hours before the World Cup kicked off. Ah the Spanish. The two neighbours have a long history of competition starting with their attempts to colonise the planet and finishing with interesting ways to cook chicken.
The match also featured another polarising figure in Cristian Ronaldo whose manner riles many, many people but he's actually a very good player. Some might argue the best at this time. Certainly no Argentinian would agree, but I digress. The match began with the interesting statistic that in all the games against Spain he has played Ronaldo had never scored against them. 5 minutes in that changed when a penalty was awarded for a foul (it might have been milked, but it was there) against Ronaldo and he scored early to settle nerves at least on the western edge of the Iberian peninsula.
An early goal (unlike the late ones) tends to open up a game as the losing side knows it can't hang on to a result it no longer has unless some goalscoring happens. Spain is quite good at making goal scoring happen. Spain made it happen. Specifically Diego Costa who found himself alone in the vicinity of 3 defenders but, crucially, with the ball at his feet jinked one way, then the other and finally dispatched the ball into the net for the equaliser after a pulsating 20 minutes after the opening goal.
Both sides clearly hate each other. Motivation to merely win isn't enough to put on a show like this. You have to passionately want the opponent to lose to make this happen.
Then, shortly before halftime, Ronaldo scored again, this time without the help of the referee, to make for an interesting halftime chat in the Spanish dressing room for interim coach Fernando Hierro.
Sometimes the enforced pause in the match has a dampening effect on the play after the resumption. Not this time. Spain scored again, Diego Costa scored again in what was rapidly becoming a personal duel between the two goal scorers. At 2-2 I was happy too because that was the score I had predicted but with over half an hour left to play I knew I was on thin ice.
There was still half an hour to play when Spain finally hit the lead with an outrageously good long range hit that bounced off both goal posts before rippling the net. José Ignacio Fernández Iglesias, who likes to shorten that to "Nacho", presumably because that's his snack of choice, had every reason to celebrate a goal that was equal parts unexpected, skilful, audacious and important. Advantage Spain.
The match continued at a standard that serves as a showpiece for exciting, positive, skilful football in a way the previous two games did not. Of course the match wasn't done yet. Ronaldo wasn't done yet. Portugal were visibly flagging from the high intensity of the game and Spain looked like they might be happy with their nights work. Then on a rare forward foray Ronaldo convinced the Referee to award a free kick that wasn't there (it is not exactly unheard of that he does this) and then proceeded to measure out his approach, set himself and then thread the kick past the wall, past the goalkeeper and inside the near post for a late goal that was a fitting finale to a match that had so much to offer.
Iran lead the group after the first round of matches. :-)
Next up the Socceroos square off against France. Come on boys!
No comments:
Post a Comment