Portugal 0 - Spain 1

Let me say something quick and temporary. I will post a more reflective comment after I watch the game again. I was way too tense as I watched it live, and cannot trust the accuracy of my perceptions.

Perhaps this is how I should begin. I was too tense during the game, and I shouldn't have been so tense. Please do not get me wrong. Portugal is a very good team, with some great players. Too defensive for my taste, but a very serious opponent anyway.

Spain, however, allowed way too many scoring opportunities. Spain should have had a much tighter control over the game. The line-up, once again, was the problem. More midfielders were badly needed. Xavi Hernández was isolated somewhere between three or five Portuguese players. Iniesta tried to help out, but it was not enough for reaching numerical parity in the midfield. And once again, today Xavi Hernández was also forced to receive the ball facing his own goalie.

Spain´s scoring opportunities were all from far away, at least until Villa scored. This tells how hard it was for the Spainards to cut through the Portuguese defensive wall. The problem was not lack of skill. The problem was that the Spaniards were outnumbered as soon as they would step on the Portuguese first 1/3 of the field.

In this scenario, Spain lost the ball in dangerous areas too many times. The first half left everyone with the feeling that scoring was closer for Portugal than for Spain.

Thank goodness that Villa scored first. After Spain scored, everything was easier for the Spaniards. Hidding the ball and making Portugal chase it was easy breezy. Further scoring opportunities started to show up.

Surprisingly enough, Portugal surrendered. Only in the last 10 minutes of the game Portugal re-attempted to score, but by then it was a little too little, a little too late.

The Spanish press at this hour could not be happier and more praiseworthy. The coach gets most of the laurels for playing Llorente and supposedly changing the dynamics of the game with this decision. I will have to see the game again to have a better judgment about it. The fact of the matter is that Del Bosque is the true winner of this game, and thus he will feel reinforced in his views. The passing game is probably over for Spain in this World Cup, at least at its highest. The downgraded passing game played by Del Bosque´s strategy might be enough to beat Paraguay, and possibly also to beat Argentina. I am not quite sure that it can beat Germany or Brazil, though, unless Del Bosque upgrades it back to its fullest expression.