Sunday, June 15, 2008

Match 15 : Spain vs Sweden : Report

In the previous round of matches in Group D,Spain had a fantastic 4-1 win over Russia with an emphatic hat-trick from David Villa.Sweden on the other hand were 2-0 winners over Greece in a not so convincing fashion.
This was supposed to be the match for the group,of even teams.Although I don't think it lived up to the billing.It wasn't easy going or smooth as was expected from Spain.Sweden weren't as attacking as they should have been.Spain's leaky defense was made visible and also expectations from them to lift the title were reduced considerably with a shaky performance.


Spain took lead through Torres in the 15th minute after a training ground worked corner move with Silva's cross finding Torres to footed the ball in.Spain up 1-0.
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Sweden were able to equalise through Ibrahimovich in the 34th minute after woeful defending from Sergio Ramos,although I think Casillas could have done a tad better too but Ramos should get the major portion of the blame for the goal as he wasn't able to contain the Juventus man.
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Sweden looked formidable in the defense with former Aston Villa player,now Juventus bound Melberg.The Swedish defense contained the attacking forces of Villa,Torres,Xavi,Iniesta and co.
Fabregas was brought on to change things but the Swedish defense wasn't bothered.Larsson looked innovative and hungry for ball throughout the game.

You know how they say,"Its not over until its over!" or in Swedish "det er icke på över till den er över" Sweden would be very much aware of this phrase after Villa scored in the 93rd minute just as the referee had the whistle in his mouth to blow when the ball becomes dead or not in an attacking position.Villa completed a cool but not so easy finish to win it for Spain and sink hearts for Sweden players,coaches and fans everywhere.
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Spain are now top with 6points and are through to the quarter finals.The final round of matches will decide the second team from this group.



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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The goal from Villa was of great class, from a striker in the peak of his form. The touch to outsmart Hanssonn was exquisite.

June 15, 2008 at 1:22 PM  
Blogger Tanuj Lakhina said...

He sure is now on the radar for many big clubs.It would be interesting to see his partnership with Torres at Anfield though.
I think this goal was better than his previous 3,combined!

June 15, 2008 at 1:28 PM  

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