Spain v Estonia Game Blog :: 3-0 :: Ready for the World

September 10th, 2009 | by: Dancy | Comments(4)

¡Mundo, vete preparando!

¡Clasificados! 

Sudáfrica, allá vamos

Was there ever any doubt?  J

Albiol – Pique – Marchena – Capdevila

Senna – Xavi – Cesc

Silva – Torres – Villa

17:00 Hey, Estonia is a pretty damn good team!  17 minutes in, and the best chance by far has been for Estonia, with one player beating Pique in the corner to whip in a perfect cross, the other player in the box simply not heading it right to get it where it should go, into the net, but instead sending it high over the top.  Iker was so frightened he fell into the goal!    Yep, they’re not afraid of us at all. 

In fact, they’ve been on such level terms, and been so energic and disciplined in snuffing out every attack, that when another one goes awry and Nando finds himself with the ball surrounded by THREE defenders, thereby losing it – he hastily sprints back and chases down his defender, sliding in to take out his feet in deep frustration!  Awww, Nando!  Best chance of the game yet too!  L

22:16  ACK, NANDO!  Such a sexy protest.  This time he runs it down, it’s a longball up for him, and his speed is breathtaking.  He easily outruns his marker, but when he tries to pull on the brakes and cut inside to escape him, his defender ruthlessly pushes him off it, and he collapses in a stunning heap on the grass, and stays there – all long, lean body, suddenly bestilled of motion; the red silk of his shirt tugged up, revealing a hint of smooth, baby-soft skin; his blond hair a sulky mop as he buries his face deep into his hands and elbows, murmuring into the grass.  Oh my f*cking god.  There better be pictures of this – he is a f*cking model out there!

So it’s Xavi for the free kick.  And the spot is so tantalizingly close that a pinpoint drop of the ball can tuck it into the far left corner, that even the most rudimentary kick can place it somewhere in the chaos of the box for a shot on goal.  The spot is that good.  On the very edge of the penalty box, right side, 18 yards out.  And the girls with seats behind the goal snap up ravishing pictures of Xavi as he decides between the two choices: taking the glory all for himself, or setting up one of his teammates?

He sets up one of his teammates.  Except it appears to be Villa who gets a hoof on the ball.  It flies just over the bar – so close!!  Estonia looks smug.  Everyone else trots off.  Villa throws up his hands and complains.  Ahaha!

24:00  Oof!  *drops dead*  Pique, Pique, Pique!  So simply taps the ball and eludes the striker flying in, who goes sliding into the corner flag in comical fashion as Pique so calmly looks the other way!  Oooooh, and starts the counter – our best chance yet????  But Torres sends it WILDLY over the bar!  OMG, Nando, how could you?!  And he knows it too, complete anguish as he just throws his head into his hands.  UGH!

25:00  ANOTHER GOAL SO NEARLY MISSED!  Xavi with that jaw-dropping dew-delicate tap forward for Torres, so lovingly given, despite himself being swarmed by defenders and soon to be swallowed up – and Torres, all you have to do is beat the keeper!  But no!  It goes off the goalkeeper’s foot!  Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!  >_ 

Is this retribution?  Payback for those Estonia chances gone begging?  But man, we are upping our attack in waves!  THIS IS SPAIN!!!

27:53 Brief shot of Torres’ cheek, and you can see a big bruise there.  DAMN ESTONIA!  *grumble*

30:00 Holy cow, we’re just bombarding their goal with knifes and forks and kettlespoons!  Poor Nando cannot buy one, here’s another perfect ball for him with acres of space to shoot, except??  Some defender roars in from behind to block that shot, sending it sky high!  ACK!  Then more stout defending by Estonia, sending balls out for corners!  It’s only a matter of time, surely . .

32:00 GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  CESCITO!!!!!!!!!!!!  Kick that 0-0 down, its 1-0!

What a beautiful little 1-2 with Silva, when you see it again it’s so simple, yet it’s that innate understanding between the two players that makes your jaw drop.  Cesc wins it, side-taps it to Silva, runs on, gets it back, and all in one motion shoots past the keeper and into the back of the net.  He’s having a great game today.

35:00 HAHA, NANDO!!  Bicycle kick!  Again, way over the bar, but now I don’t mind, I love seeing that from him.  Again, he almost gets to it, but for the defender sticking a leg out, and Nando must lunge in with that kick or else it’s the keeper’s.  Poor thing!  Then he gets up, sticking his thumb back at the goalie to ask “is it me or him?”, and that bruise on his cheek pulsates, red and black.  Just give it to him, ref.  Srsly?

37:00 Just wave after wave of attacking football!  A dream.

Half:

Pablo, the announcer: “The only thing wrong with Spain in the first half, was Iker’s beard.”  Ahahaha, even guys don’t like his beard!  Watch and learn, says Cesc!

51:00  SILVA GOES DOWN!

They want him red-carded!  They want him red-carded! 

Me too. 

They see the ref pull out the yellow, and are aghast.  From seeing it live, it was like a gun being shot, in his back – that’s how he goes down.  OMG David!  And all game long too!  Just b/c he’s small, doesn’t mean you can run all over him!  Wow, Pique goes to give him a talking to.  For a full minute, it looks like.  Still talking, as they line up the free kick.  YAY PIQUE!!!

56:45 Nando off??  For Guiza.  Aww, c’mon, Del Bosque, let the boy play! 

65:00 Villa off for Santi Cazorla.  We switch to a 4-5-1?

78:00 Is that MATA?  IT IS!!!!!!!  Wow, I barely recognized him without his Valencia shirt on!  Why so late to put him on? 

81:00 GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  SANTI!!!!!!!!!!!  YAY, FINALLY, another goal!  2-0. 

Just when I am interpreting the chants around the stadium to be “andelay, andelay” (sp?) = faster, faster = so flummoxed am I that we cannot get past this little Estonia, who is already eliminated, who sits bottom of the table, not more than 1 goal past them???  And we are trying all sorts of things too!  Longballs up top to Guiza, side to side, counters, tiki taka.  And now even the announcers are looking for other things to say, advertising this weekend’s lineup. 

Pablo is counting the passes, saying that Spain has made 20 passes already, side to side, front to back – and now we pass it around some more.  What are we waiting for?  What are we looking for?  Ah, ah – now I know.  We are looking for that tiny sliver of an opening – for that one mistake that will gift the ball back to us, Cesc with a chip to Santi, who actually misses it and almost loses it, then flicks it on for himself but it actually hits the defender’s leg!  And somehow, somehow, the mistake is made, the sliver of space opens – and Santi takes no time at all, one touch and he’s on the ground and the shot’s off.  GOOOOOOOLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Now we can breathe easier.

82:00 LOL!  Xabi with a cute curl of his lip, he looks pissed that he’s not the scorer of that goal.  Or even in the game.  But Cesc has been so great today.  It was he who provided the assist for Santi’s goal – and so adorable, when he saw that Santi almost lost the ball, he had that little “oh!” look on his face.  You know!  The one where he makes an “O” with his mouth, his eyebrows up, his eyes big – and he runs after him, ready to help him out.  Then happiness all around when Santi strikes.  PLUS that first goal, of course! 

91:30 GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  MATA with a power shot!  From that far out??  YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Wow, just when it looked like Spain would ease into the weekend, wind down the clock, and stroll to the end of the 90 minutes – Santi breaks their feet-to-feet passing with an arching pass overhead to Juan Mata, who is all alone on the far right side of the box.  He settles the ball perfectly from the air, fakes out his dead-tired defender, puts it onto his left foot, and whips that ball into the back of the net.  Awww, no Villa or Silva anymore on the pitch to celebrate it with him, but I’m sure they’re going wild.  3-0!!!

End:

What a team.  Throughout the whole game, Ray was praising Spain on what depth they have – this “golden generation” of young players coming of age and earning their stripes together on the biggest stage possible.  That after years and years of frustration and tears – Spain is finally starting to achieve the accolades commiserate to their style of play.  And they’re not done.  They can still improve.  We’re still missing Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta. 

Plus: when will my Sevilla boys be called up?  I like Santi and Mata et al, but doesn’t the prospect of bringing Jesus Navas off the bench make you drool??  What about Diego Capel, soooo impressive right now with the U-21, and who got 2 assists last year on his debut with La Seleccion?  And Alvaro . . the best young Spanish striker after Torres and Villa right now, in my opinion. 

And finally: CONGRATS, IKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  New record of 57 shut-outs for the national team!  Beating out the previous record-holder Andoni Zubizarreta’s record of 56 shutouts with La Roja, and doing it with less caps too!  Casillas has only 98 caps, while Zubizarreta had 126. The next milestone for Casillas is his 100th cap, which will gain him entry to the exclusive club of Raul and Zubizarreta, as the only other two who’s done it.  Holy cow, that’s elite company – go Iker!  I’m so proud of you!!!