MatchDay 19 saw the last of the Round of 16 matches, with Paraguay taking on Japan and the much-awaited all-Iberian clash between Spain and Portugal:
This match had an enormous significance to both teams, as whichever team progressed would be reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in their history. With so much at stake, the pressure clearly told on the players as Paraguay and Japan ended up nullifying each other and even Extra Time wasn't sufficient to separate the two teams. And so it went to penalties and for poor Yuichi Komano, the pressure became unbearable as his spot-kick hit the crossbar and went sky high. However, the Japanese left with their heads held high and will now fancy their performance as the benchmark for Asian football.
It was a match between a side that was still yet to concede a goal in the World Cup and one that boasted an enviable attacking arsenal. The return of Iniesta in the last group match against Chile had clearly raised Spanish morale and with Xavi, Puyol and Pique, he forms the spine of the La Furia Roja as well as the Blaugrana. As such, this match was a telling example of the adage: have ball, will score and will win. Spain had 2/3rds of the possesion and for almost three-quarters of the match, Portugal's nullifying tactics worked, until a piece of magic from Xavi had prised open the defence and Villa was clear on goal. Even then, Portugal's goalkeeper Eduardo saved his first attempt, but when the rebound fell kindly to Villa, he made no mistake second time, toe-poking the ball into the roof of the net. Now chasing the game, Portugal's gameplan changed to a puzzling English-style long-ball scheme, with Ronaldo clearly frustrated at being the target man. Ricardo Costa received his marching orders a minute from time, following a fracas with Spanish left-back Joan Capdevila, but that was purely academic as the Portuguese were second best by a distance. Cristiano Ronaldo earned brickbats for his spitting act against the camera immediately after the final whistle and allegedly snapping at reporters to "ask the coach" as to why Portugal lost. I'm not sure if he really said that to the journalists, but having seen the spitting incident on TV, I'll say this for him: he needs to learn to lose with grace.
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