iSporter Shravan Varma presents a preview of the FIFA World Cup 2010 quarter final game between Spain and Paraguay.
The hardest thing to do in football is to score a goal and against Spain this task is infinitely harder because you need to have the ball first to score a goal.
Spain have dominated possession in every game they’ve played, even in the loss to Switzerland. In their last game against Portugal, they had 61% of the possession, a mind-boggling number at this level.
Their ability to retain the ball has them leading the overall possession time charts, with 139 minutes of possession so far with the nearest rivals Brazil a distant 121 minutes.
They also lead in passes made and pass completion (81%) and are second to Argentina in shots attempted with 74. Without boring you with more stats, simply put, the stats show that once Spain get the ball it is next to impossible to get it back and during the time, they will create a bucket load of chances.
The only statistic that doesn’t match the rest of it is the goals scored. Spain have only managed 5 goals so far, 4 of them by David Villa a contender for the Golden Boot.
In this respect, Paraguayans have been similarly goal-shy. Their 3 goals have come from defenders, despite having wonderful attacking talent. But really, this game is all about Spain and whether the Paraguayans have the discipline to keep Spain out.
Most likely, Paraguay won’t be able to out play Spain and will cede possession to try to attack Spain on the counter, utilizing the pace of their attackers. Paraguay have good players in attack and they do have the quality to ask questions of Spain’s defense.
In the Spanish camp, the most interesting question for me is whether or not del Bosque will persevere with Torres. The Liverpool hitman has looked off-the-pace in his 4 appearances, but his presence on the field and his running has been very useful.
He has not received the service he thrives on so far, but he is a pure striker of the highest caliber and has that ability to score from anywhere in the penalty box. With Spain not scoring as many goals as they would like, this ability is too important to leave on the bench. I expect him to start again on Saturday.
The question on everyone’s mind is whether or not Paraguay can keep Spain out for 90 and then 120 minutes? I honestly cant see them doing that and I see Spain scoring first and with their ability to keep the ball, Paraguay will be forced to take more risks, creating more gaps for Spain to utilize.
At the end of the day, I expect to see Spain reach the semi-finals comfortably.
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