The commentators promise us “a delicious brand of football.” Will this finally be the glimpse of flowing football we’ve been promised, even though la roha are curiously not the team in red?
Let’s see!
By the 4th minute it feels like Torres is a threatening force in the middle for Spain again. He has 2 half chances that both bode well then makes a run into the box from the left flank that shows a smart burst of speed.
Then Chile parry the early Spanish advances and earn themselves a free kick in the 9th minute.
A minute later the Chilean buildup through the centre stretches the Spanish defense and sees Gonzalez on the receiving end of a fine low cross that he hits over the net. A glorious chance missed. The Chileans maintain some strong possession and earn another shot on the Spanish net from long range that Casillas catches without problems.
The game has the feel of a test for both Spain and Chile, the likes of which they have not yet seen in this World Cup.
The Chileans show great pace and tempo moving the ball and running. Their possession in the Spanish end presents Sanchez with a nifty chip on net in the 13th minute that Casillas has to scramble to deflect beyond the net for a corner.
Gary Medel earns himself a clumsy yellow card in the middle of the pitch that will see him suspended for the next game.
Spain earn a second free kick and their midfield seem to come alive for the first time, knocking the ball around fluidly.
Waldo Ponce follows that bit of play by inexplicably aggressing the knee of Torres after competing for a ball at the sidelines. In the process he earns himself a yellow card.
After 20 minutes the Spanish midfield has yet to see the ball and hold possession. The Chileans midfielders are denying them space and positioning, standing up in the passing lanes of Iniesta, Xavi and Xabi Alonso and Torres and David Villa.
And Marco Estrada becomes the 3rd Chilean booked for a sliding challenge on Busquets. (Is Busquets the biggest diver left in the tournament?)
Then from a fairly static bit of play, Spain launch a long ball for Torres to run onto, delivered from deep in their own end. The ball entices the Chilean goalkeeper 10 meters beyond his box. He knocks the ball back from Torres but David Villa pounces on the clearance and curls a lazy shot from 30 meters into the yawning Chilean net.
All of a sudden, Spain 1, Chile 0.
In the 27th minute Iniesta bounces free from the marking of Marco Estrada who fouls him and is lucky to escape without a second yellow card, which would send Chile down to 10 men.
The ensuing free kick is wasted and Chile run the ball down to the Spanish end to seek an equalizer. Sanchez earns a free kick and is proving to be a handful in both tight positions and open space. His lateral action, speed and tenacity on the ball troubling the Spanish defenders.
By the 32nd minute Spain seem to have either adapted to the faster pace of the game or the Chileans have run out of nervous energy.
Then a sudden run by Beausejour, almost in on Casillas alone, forces Pique to make a clean deflection of a dangerous looking shot.
The ball moves through midfield and a rough bit of mishandling from Chile leads to a break for Iniesta through the heart of the Chilean midfield.
Iniesta plays it to Torres who taps it back to Iniesta. Iniesta plays it wide to Villa, who draws 2 defenders and slides the ball back to Iniesta. Iniesta takes a gentle touch with a delicate sidefooted and the ball bounces into the wide side of the net.
Spain 2, Chile 0.
In the drama of the goal Torres has had his heels clipped by Marco Estrada who earns a second yellow card for his foul and the consequential red as well. Chile, down 2 to nil and down to 10 men.
With 5 minutes to play to halftime Spain begin playing their game of keep away, knocking the ball around, letting the movement and possession do the work of defending.
The commentator mentions that the referee is making quite a name for himself: 22 free kicks called thus far, 15 against Chile. A few more are called before halftime, including a challenge against Xabi Alonso that causes an ugly ankle roll in injury time.
At half Chile sub off Gonzales and Valdivia for Millar and Paredes and their tactics pay dividents.
In the 47th minute Millar strikes a shot from just outside the Spanish box that deflects off Pique’s knee and arcs against Casillas’ momentum into the wide side of the net.
Game on: Spain 2, Chile 1.
The Chileans continue looking punchy, even down a man. Sanchez lights a spark every time he touches the ball. His energy is remarkable, an engine for the Chilean attack. At the same time, the Spanish defense look a little vulnerable in the middle.
Fabregas subs in for Torres and the Spanish faithful will find little consolation in the return of his abilities from evidence in this game.
The substitution quickly demonstrates how lively the Spanish game becomes with Fabregas. He and Villa seems to have a strong chemistry on the right attack while Iniesta runs the left.
Chile continues to clog up the midfield and earn the ball back on rare wayward passes or runs from Spain. The Chilean defense are tight in their marking and quick in their response, their challenges timely and their pursuit of the ball and positioning faultless.
In the 64th, Sanchez is subbed off for Orellana for no reason to my eyes. He has looked the likeliest to make the difference in the game for the Chileans, if any difference is to be made.
None seems apparent as the Spanish knock the ball around in possession for minutes on end. “This could be death by a thousand passes,” says the commentator.
Xabi Alonso is subbed off for Javier Martinez in the 73rd minute as the former had received a few stout challenges and shown a little limp in his run.
Some small chances materialize at each end but nothing that leads to great mesh-rippling promise. David Villa remains industrious for Spain in attack, the man has conditioning, and his teams seems to have taken control of the tempo and pace of the game.
To say nothing of the possession, which grows more lopsided all the time in Spain’s favor. Yet Chilean hope persists, the differential on the scoreboard remains only a single goal.
The graphic for distribution of possession pops up on the screen and reads Spain 56% / Chile 44%. Really? This feels wildly inaccurate. Perhaps they work on a similar score system as boxing? The Spanish have held the ball continuously for the past 10 minutes.
“At the moment it’s a very vacuous match of football. Nothing much is happening,” notes the commentator, wondering aloud if the Chileans are content with the score and waiting for a result in the other Group H game to put them through.
Spain send David Silva to the sidelines to go on for someone but he has no chance. There are no breaks in play. There is only the metronome passing of the Spanish players as the Chileans hang back.
“The referee might just blow his whistle now because they’ve both given up on it.”
The pace has slowed to a stroll. “Ninety seconds to this torture to watch.”
Chile have 5 across at their back line. 2 minutes of extra time. David Silva waits to come on as the countdown of the last few seconds ticks away. He will not be capped today.
The end of the game mercifully arrives and Spain go through for sure. Chile stand in good stead to go through, dependent on the result from Switzerland and Honduras.