Brilliant, just brilliant, good for the group now spain will push, switserland will try harder and have faith, possibly Switserland and Chile advancing altough we shouldnt count spain out, last match vs Chile could be a brilliant game, atough chile arnt that strong defensively, so you'd see 2 offensive teams that might be good for spain. Betted on a draw but really didnt think the swiss could win, they havent won in their friendlies either, nobody thought it could happen. Game ended 0-1 for the Swiss.

God game, already knew a bit about Chile's game but still impressed, good passing game, brilliant use of wing and defenders, good example of tactics over individual quality, wich they also have but less in the form of big names, they missed humberto Suazo the leading top scorer of the Suda America Qualification round with 10 goals and that was showing, they need to improve their finishing wich was a weak point. Isla, the goal scorer forgot his name was a nice name though, Sanchez did well altough they werent the only ones, good team nice to watch, they need to watch their defence against stronger teams though as they go forward with alot of men but their offence is their defence too ofcourse. Honduras not as weak as I thought, not that strong either but I thought they were weaker, but not capable in offence while they also missed their own Suazo who they mostly count on in scoring. Game ended 0-1 Chile

It was a pretty decent game and Chile played well. I think Suazo's abcense hurt them in offence as Sanchez looked a little alone up there, but overall they pulled through. It was nice to see them get a win after 56 years! ;)

I saw bits and pieces of this. But it sounded like Spain were dominant. So much for them exorcising the ghost of underachievement.LOL

On a side note, don't you thing guys that it would be better if we had one thread for each group instead of one per match?

Well, there was bound to be one upset in the 1st round of games and since it hadn't happened until today, the odds were right up there. I wasn't at all impressed with Torres and I think Villa played a pretty crappy game. But two thumbs down to Bosque on his tactics. I'm not sure what he was thinking insisting that they just keep crossing the ball from the right side. It was rather obvious after the first half a dozen times that the Swiss defence was much stronger in the air and Villa was completely invisible and way behind the ball among the tall Swiss defence on those crosses. Spain has a tough road ahead of them now with each team expected to beat Honduras.

P.S. On thread per group sounds like a good idea actually.

I knew the suisse defence was capable didnt think they'd score though.

The Group thread sounds good, I could also post the game threads and then later merge them in the group right after the game is finished.

Yeah, I personally like that idea the best. Game thread and merged the next day or something into a group thread.

Chile had several chances to score. I was on the edge of my seat praying for no more score. Got 4 points from this match. :D

Or we could have a group thread now and merge all the previous match threads that relate to each group. The sooner it's done the better IMV.

I'll try to do it after the Sa match tonight.

Btw the Swiss tied the old Italian record of having 5 WC games without a goal conceded, they can be the sole keeperes of the record if they keep the nil next game against Chile.

I usually bet on Finnish League, or Jupiler league, or mostly second divisions because not alot of people play em, and the odds are always good. The minimum number of games to bet on is 3. Here you can't just bet on one game.

That being said, I had Turku, and Helsinki, and my 3rd game was a lock, and that had to be Spain. Fucking Spain.

I usually bet on Finnish League, or Jupiler league, or mostly second divisions because not alot of people play em, and the odds are always good. The minimum number of games to bet on is 3. Here you can't just bet on one game.

That being said, I had Turku, and Helsinki, and my 3rd game was a lock, and that had to be Spain. Fucking Spain.
Yeah heard the dutch Jupiler League being good to bet on, should be good for me since I have a little background knowledge about the teams, altough I dont regularly watch that league. Dont think Im the type for the long term bets between the 1.x and 2.x terms. The combination of 3 game bets all being world cup matches would be difficult I reckon, didnt think alot of other leagues would be ongoing.

For now Im betting small on world cup games with good odds though, couple of bets of whom I am fairly sure and a couple low bets with possible big payouts but those are the less likely bets, if I wanted long term money I wouldnt play the low possibilty/favorable odds bets as it mostly bait and doesnt regularily pay-out but I just need one of them since I bet so low the losses arent that bad and the good bets should cover the losses anyway. Its been only the first day I have been betting on the world cup though :)

Yeah heard the dutch Jupiler League being good to bet on, should be good for me since I have a little background knowledge about the teams, altough I dont regularly watch that league. Dont think Im the type for the long term bets between the 1.x and 2.x terms. The combination of 3 game bets all being world cup matches would be difficult I reckon, didnt think alot of other leagues would be ongoing.

For now Im betting small on world cup games with good odds though, couple of bets of whom I am fairly sure and a couple low bets with possible big payouts but those are the less likely bets, if I wanted long term money I wouldnt play the low possibilty/favorable odds bets as it mostly bait and doesnt regularily pay-out but I just need one of them since I bet so low the losses arent that bad and the good bets should cover the losses anyway. Its been only the first day I have been betting on the world cup though :)

I like to see the lists for everyday, and sometimes(like today) when I find 3 good games, I bet on em. I only play for fun, and I don't bet more than 5$.

Betting on the world cup is tough, because there are only few lock games, and they don't pay crap, and sometimes they kill you. :)

Don't miss the replay of the Chile-Switzerland game guys. It was a great game, especially the end of it - from one end to the other, non-stop!
Spain's at the verge of elimination now! They have to beat both Honduras and Chile to even have a realistic chance. Any slip-up's and they're gone! :(
This group will mostlikely be a 3 way tie between Spain/Chile/Switzerland all with 6 points and it's going to come down to goal difference.

Don't miss the replay of the Chile-Switzerland game guys. It was a great game, especially the end of it - from one end to the other, non-stop!
Spain's at the verge of elimination now! They have to beat both Honduras and Chile to even have a realistic chance. Any slip-up's and they're gone! :(
This group will mostlikely be a 3 way tie between Spain/Chile/Switzerland all with 6 points and it's going to come down to goal difference.

Yup. It is going to be tough for Spain. I'm nost sure if they can beat Chile. If Swiss beat Honduras by two goals they are through to the next round.

Chile fucked up, they should have scored more and had enough chances too, now the Swiss have the best position out og the 3, Chile'll have a difficult game against spain, could be a high scoring and very entertaining game, both teams very offensive.

Extra facts :D
-Goal scorer Mark Gonazalez was born in Durban, South Africa. Also explained the extra sound from the stadium when he scored and if Chile get through atleast there will be some link with bafana bafana.

-The assistent referee in the match between the swiss and Chileans was Hassan Kamranifar, an iranian ref, I am not sure but I think he was the one on the line when Behrami got the red, where yellow would have sufficed and he was the assistent of one of the worst refs, the KSA ref Ghandi. Despite having a role in a bad decision, atleast we have a link in this world cup :D

-The Swiss took over the record of 1990's(?) Italy who had a clean sheat for 5 world cup games, the Swiss also had 5 matches with a clean sheat but they had more minutes, they overtook the record by 10 minutes or so since they did get a goal against in the 75th minute

Well, Switzerland should be expected to beat Honduras at this point, but they're not exactly the most offencive team. Their goal difference is zero right now, so they'll need to play a completely different style than what they've played so far in order to advance. I think they too have a tough task ahead.

I don't think Chile's going to come out to win against Spain - not really worth the risk - a tie will see them through as the group winners and even a loss is most likely good enough for them to advance. But any slip-ups and a 2+ goal loss and they've thrown it all away. That's why I think they'll come out for the tie. They really did need that 2nd goal in this game and they would have been virtually guaranteed a spot.

Lot of pressure on Spain.

Chile isnt a team to go for a draw, way too offensive for that, more offensive than any team in this WC, their offense is their defence. You also cant go for a draw, you can settle for it but you cant play on the draw, other than trying to play a 0-0 or deciding a draw is the best possibiltiy inmatch, but they wont go for the draw before the match, you cant play that and especially the Chileans arent the team to go for a 0-0. It should be a very entertaining game, Bielsa is also a brilliant tactician, he'll be able to think of a good way to deal with spain, the Chilean team and players are very versatile and can play multiple positions and formations. A couple of Chileans are also suspnded for the spain match. Again could go either way or neither way(tie)

The swiss draw is possible but if they score its more or less over and they will get their chances, they did against Spain and CHile, they will surely against Honduras. But if you think about it, you should be able to see those who go through the first round as possible winners and despite not having that much against defensive football, you wouldnt want a team like the swiss to defend their way to the final, altough that isnt too likely but still.

Behrou jan,
a 0-1 loss to Spain most likely means Chile is out. Because Spain has a +1 GD and Chile has +2. If they lose 0-1 to spain, Spain will have a better GD and if Swiss beats Honduras by two goals Chile will be out. If you are Chile you can't count on Swiss not winning by 2.

Well, Chile can't afford to lose to the Spaniards after the Spain-Honduras result. If Spain beat them by any score, they (the Spaniards) will go through ahead of Chile and the Chileans will have to wait on the Honduras-Switzerland result. It's risky business to come out and play a non-defencive game against Spain, but I don't think Chile has much of a choice at this point.

Switzerland need to beat Honduras with a 2 goal margin or more (as per Mr. Ped.) and they'll be guaranteed a spot. That's going to be a tough task considering both the Spanish and Chileans failed to score more than 2 goals on them. Having said that Honduras is shaken and stirred, but they will be playing for pride at this point.

In my view Spain are in a very tricky position and if I had to bet I'd put my money on them going out. I'd rather be in Switzerland's position with the weakest side in the group to play. Chile will not play for a draw, they can catch Spain on the break more competently than the Swiss did.

Spain's undoing will be their insistence to walk the ball into the net. Too much pretty stuff an not enough punch. Sometimes you just have to shoot and cut the bullshit.

I know what could help them: the 24sec rule in basketball :)

Chile are possible contenders for the title IMO, they arent top yet, but one of the best teams, reallisticly though they can be taken out by good teams as they have their weaknesses and they need to be focused against spain or they'll be out in the group stage already. I wasnt that impressed by spain, but if they go through they can grow in the competition, like behrooz said they should cut the crap at times, they need to be more machine like wich they are capable of. The south american countries are doing really well, followed by Europeans, then Asians and last come the Africans who really dissappoint on their own continent.

David Villa might get suspended after he was caught on camera slapping a honduras player in the face, the ref didnt notice the incident and Fifa need the confirmation in the report of the Japanese ref. If the ref did notice and did not give anything Fifa cant do anything if the ref didnt notice and fifa make the right decision he might miss next match and maybe more.

Totally agree with you Behrooz jaan on too much pretty stuff from Spain and the 24 sec. rule.

I don't know about Chile Commander. They definitely have a good team, like they did in '66 and '98, but both times they failed miserably against strong opposition in the 2ns round. I actually consider their '98 team by far their best team seven including the '62 team that finished 3rd in the World Cup in Chile. If you think about it, they haven't really been tested and the match against Spain will tell all. Honduras is an extremely week team and Switzerland... after that miserable performance at home in the last Euro, I still consider them nobodies.

Bielsa is something special behrou and their tactics and formations are very interesting, Bielsa is also a big fan of the Ajax method with Van Gaals team in particulair wich as a Ajax fan does make me like the guy a bit more, his team style is similair to the older Ajax methods, He's a specialist and crazy about the game a times a bit too much analysing things to depth.

Fifa also decided not to suspend Villa for the Chile game wich is amazing as Villa clearly slapped the Honduras player, but fifa and their influence in the games is well known, they would also prefer havin the big name spain in there.

A short description of his tactics prior to the start of the world cup, a good site too if you like to go deeper into tactics and tactics behind games at times

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/06/08/marcelo-bielsa-chile-world-cup-2010-tactics/

Rediculous how spain and the big countries in general get favored, first villa doesnt get a red for slapping a honduras player in the face even after video evidence, now that players scores and then chile get a player sent off for fuck all, with Torres acting like roadkill after tripping, I hope Spain crash and burn, hard, I rather have the swiss go through after this, Fifa want spain to go through to bad and I normally would also but not with favouring like this. Attacking football of chile doesnt get its rewards, fucking refs fucked the entire tournement, its plain theft and changing game results altogether.

Goal CHili, spain trying to play the counter like they have all game, Chile still attacking full on with 10 men, damn spain, damn them.

Damn Im pissed, fucking hell, chle will probably get through anyway but I dont think they deserve to lose this game, I really hope they atleast tie, Spain being helped in the game with 2 gifted goals and another referee with chromosome issues.

Unbelievable how much the chileans still are giving, they are even trough with these results, but wiht 10 men they are running their lungs off and attacking full one, spain however play with 5 mids after taking torres of for fabregas. Its not that I hate spain, but this result is pure theft and its mostly the work of fifa and a bit the work of Torres' playing dead. I knew Chile were weaker defensively but they should atleast be able to play 11 vs 11 shame

Beausejour is an awesome player, like the guy.

Spain and Fifa are disgracefull, Honduras and Switserland suck to badly, Chile is awesome, game pretty much ended in 2-1 spain just passing the ball in defence, but whatever.

Told you Swtizerland couldn't score Commander! ;)
Spain & Chile both deserved to go through, although I would have preferred to see Spain-Brazil and Portugal-Chile in the next round. Spain was less than impressive in this game, although frankly, I wasn't really impressed with Chile either. It was a tough result-oriented game for both, so understandable to some extent. I agree, the red card was definitely not deserved - there was contact, but it was unintentional.
Commander, as far as I know FIFA has NEVER suspended a player in the WC for an incident that was not called out or seen by a referee or his assistance. As such, I don't think they were playing favoritism, but being consistent. Don't forget, any such action would undermine the referees and where exactly would you draw the line?!

Behrou would you believe he chairman/president of the spanish football federation, Angel Maria Villar, is also the chairman of the Referee's commitee, dont you see any conflict of interest? Really? I actually think it deserves its own thread seeing the decisions in Spain favour, Spain should've played without Villa, plain and easy, but didnt bc the chairman of the referee's comittee is a spaniard and he wouldnt like his team out that fast. I wouldnt have made a point of it if they played without Villa and won, but villa played and scored an important goal and Chile got a red that wasnt a red. I am not sure if it has been done in a WC or EC, however I know it has been done in the CL and other big competitions, Fifa doesnt like to bring to many changes in both competitions refereeing wise so they shouldnt on this case either and they didnt say that they wouldnt research it bc they dont use video imagery, they said they wanted to talk to the appointed ref first and see his report also.

Another point, you thought the spaniard was the only one combining two positions incapable of combining both without some conflict of interest, the president of the brazilian federation is the vice president of the referee's commitee, not giving a red card to Juan and allowing a hands ball twice, favoritisme it isnt or is it. There is no way those positions should be allowed to be combined, no way. Match fixing apparently is alright if FIFA does it and with Video refs, Match fixing would be way more difficult for them, its naive thinking it doesnt happen.

So, I guess we should have predicted Spain-Brazil final!

Well, the referring in this WC has been absolutely the worst one I have ever seen - no doubt about that Commander - particularly after todays games with a goal not being counted and the other a goal, which was clearly offside being allowed. I think FIFA will have to take a hard and long look at video replays as well as post match decision making (which would have been useful in Villa's case) and I don't think they can resist wave after wave of criticism for having failed to do this sooner. Other than the refereeing, this has been a great WC and its sad to see that these decisions are tainting the tournament. :(