Portugal 7 (Raul Meireles 29, Simao 53, Almeida 56, Tiago 60 & 89, Liedson 81, Ronaldo 87) North Korea 0
In the 7th minute a corner was swung in the Korean keeper came out & got nowhere near it. Ricardo Carvalho got his head on it but could only see it come back of the post. Hong Yong-Jo lashes a shot from an angle in the area and the keeper parries it but Mun In-Guk could only head over the rebound. Good play from Portugal with the jabulani being played into Raul Meireles who made the run from deep & he only had to put the ball past Myong-Guk Ri.
Portugal doubled their lead after the break. Good passing play from them and all Simao had to do was keep his shot low past the keeper. 3 minutes later Portugal made it three. Fabio Coentrao got down the wing and played a cross in Hugo Almeida all on his own steered his header past Myong-Guk Ri. Tiago made it four after good work from an anonymous Ronaldo played the ball across & he just side footed it into the net. Liedson made six only 4 minutes after coming on. An attempted clearance from Ri Kwang-Chon, the jabulani rolled up over him and with a one timer Liedson slammed it in the goal. Ronaldo got his goal after he got the luck of the bounce and was able to put the jabulani into the net. Two minutes later the seventh and final goal went in. The cross in from Coentrao was met by Tiago who guided his header comfortably past the keeper into the far corner.
If you had only seen the first half you wouldn't have predicted a 7-0 score line to Portugal at the end. The Democratic People's Republic Of Korea played well & gave their all but the Portuguese quality shone in the end.
Switzerland 0 (Behrami Sent Off 30) Chile 1 (Gonzalez 75)
Chile were the better side throughout the first half. The ref was card happy but when Valon Behrami swung an arm at Vidal he got it right & sent him off. Chile had chances upon chances through the game. In the first ten minutes they had two efforts from outside the area which Benaglio was equal to on both accounts. Chile continued to press after the break but couldn't break through until the 75th minute when and Estaban Paredes cross got to Mark Gonzalez at the back stick who headed it down in the net. Chile pressed and pressed but couldn't convert their chances. Eren Derdiyok had a chance late to square the game for the Swiss but could only drag his shot wide. A deserved win for Chile but take nothing away from the Swiss they tried their damnedest to get a point.
Spain 2 (Villa 17, 51, Missed penalty 61) Honduras 0
David Villa struck the crossbar early on after brilliant effort but got his goal when he came in from the wing went past three Hondurans and curled his shot into the top corner, 1-0 on 17 minutes. Spain were dominated throughout & should have won by more. In the 2nd half, Spain started slowly but Villa had a shot from just outside the area, it took a deflection off a defender and looped in over the keeper. Jesus Navas was brought down in the box on 61 & Villa had a chance to grab his hat trick but could only side foot his penalty past the post. He had another chance to make it three but his shot was blocked. Cesc Fabregas also had a chance after coming only on seconds before. He went round the keeper but his shot was cleared from the goal by Chavez.
Upcoming Fixtures:-
Brazil vs Portugal - Friday 25th 3:00pm
Ivory Coast vs North Korea - Friday 25th 3:00pm
Spain vs Chile - Friday 25th 7:30pm
Switzerland vs Honduras - Friday 25th 7:30pm
