SPAIN 0 CHILE 2 | SPAIN ELIMINATED FROM 2014 WORLD CUP

The first National Football Team to be eliminated from the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is the reigning World Champions SPAIN which lost 0 - 2 to CHILE in today's Group B match. A devastating blow to the Spain Football Team & Spanish Football which ends their nearly 8 years of domination in World Soccer. Chile with this win seals, along with Holland, their pass onto the next phase of the World Cup tournament. Spain has a last Group match on Monday against Australia which will be a "bureaucratic" affair & perhaps serve to give a run to the "next generation" of players that will continue in the future, apart to win back some pride & heal the wounds.

Spain made chances from the disastrous Holland match putting in Javi Martinez (for Pique) & Pedro (for Xavi Hernandez) but the problems maintained themselves as Chile did all the damage in the 1ºst half with pressure Football & goals from Vargas in the 20th min & a second in the 43rd min Aranguiz.

Spain in the 2º half changed Xabi Alonso for Koke but physically fell apart as Chile could have scored a couple of more goals. The Spaniards watched as their luck along with their Football left the "Maracana Stadium". Coach Del Bosque put on Fernando Torres & Cazorla to find at least a goal but the newly signed goalkeeper for FC Barcelona & Chile Claudio Bravo stopped magnificently all the Spanish efforts.

The big chance for Spain came early in the second half when Busquets missed an open goal. It highlighted one of the biggest problems with this Spanish Football Team, the lack of goal, the lack of goal creating opportunities which was again blatant in this match.

Now is not the moment to give reasons for the Spanish Football Team World Cup disaster, no doubt rivers of ink will flow tonight & in the coming weeks from World & local Sports media to give their versions. What needs to be written here now is congratulations to Chile for the victory & moving on in the World Cup tournament, I personally wish them luck.

As for Spain, some veterans would have played their last game, while some "sacred cows" will need to look closely at their performance. The Technical team will need to accept that they did not take the "best players available" over to Brazil. What is obvious is that allowing 7 goals in 2 matches signals "huge problems", to be studied & solutions to be found.

An end of a glorious era, the exit from a "Golden period" of Spanish & World Football which is & will stay in History. Spain has plenty of young World class players ready to take over & begin a new circle with the next European Nations Cup & 2018 World Cup in Russia as objectives. 

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SPAIN vs CHILE PREVIEW | PLAYER CHANGES ASKED FOR IN STARTING XI LINE-UP

Tomorrow is "D-DAY"  for the Spanish Football National Team. After their disastrous start in their Group B match losing 1 - 5 to Holland, they must win Chile tomorrow to stay alive in the FIFA World Cup 2014 being held in Brazil.

The match against Holland put into doubt same players, Casillas, Pique, Busquets, Xavi Hernandez & Silva. Many local Football observers, media specialists & Spanish Fans are calling for a "radical change" to the starting line-up against Chile. Most want youth, pace & more goal instinct-opportunity creators.

However, the initial reactions were more emotional than rational. Lets not forget that Spain is 2 x European Nations & Current World Cup Champions, with the same players. A "radical revolution" may not be the solution but a few touches in key areas maybe what is needed.

While Selector & Coach Vicente del Bosque meditates his starting XI line-up against Chile, in Spain the media & Spanish fans have spoken. According to the results of surveys, online voting & media observers comments, the starting XI being asked for is:

Casillas, Azpilicueta, J.Martinez, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Iniesta, Koke, Pedro & Diego Costa.

Spanish media & fans choice

Those being asked to be left out are : Pique, Xavi Hernandez & Silva. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas has his detractors but with third keeper De Gea injured the chances of Del Bosque leaving out Casillas is slim, apart that it would be blatant finger pointing exercise that could psychologically affect player & the dressing room.

Latest news from Brazil is that Coach Del Bosque maybe considering returning to a 4-1-4-1 system, a formula used against Uruguay in the 2013 Confederations Cup. Here the team may look like:

Casillas, Azpilicueta, J.Martinez, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Iniesta, Koke, Cazorla, Pedro & Costa.

In both cases, they are SPECULATIONS. No one can say the actual official starting line-up XI for Spain for tomorrows Group B match against Chile. We will only know 45 minutes before kick - off time.

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SPAIN 2 CHILE 2 | INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY MATCH FINAL RESULT

The Spanish National Football Team was pushed right up till the end of its International Friendly match against Chile in Geneva ( Switzerland ). The game ended in a 2 - 2 final result draw after an entertaining match of Football that gave the World & European Champions a solid workout & a near scare.

Chile took this game more than serious & began aggressively pressuring the Spanish play makers which lead them to lose the ball, frustrating them & creating mistakes. Six Spanish regular players who played against Finland were rested but this was no excuse as Chile were more compact & tactically disciplined from the start.

Chile went ahead early in the 4th min thanks to Vargas as they caught Spain still getting into the groove. Spain managed to shake off the surprise & had to work to get their usual game together as Chile was virtually on top of the Spaniards. In the 37th min Pedro broke away down the right flank & crossed to find Roberto Soldado who scored a header & equalized. However, Chile keep with their aggressive & disciplined play & got ahead again in the 43rd min with a second from Vargas.

The second half saw Spain make changes ( Navas, Iniesta, Reina, Nacho - debut, Koke & later Negredo ) in order to find some freshness in their game & open up the Chilean team. But Chile got stronger thanks to the enormous work of Vidal & Isla in the midfield along with constant pressure on the Spaniards. Chile created opportunities to shut the match but failed to convert, while Spain started pulling from their Champions pride & kept slowly chipping away looking for the equalizer. Spanish players like Cazorla, Pedro & later Negredo never gave up & in the last moments of the game Jesus Navas scored the equalizer in the 91st min. 

Sigh of relief from the Spanish Team bench & Coach Del Bosque as his team managed to save the night. Chile were impressive & look a very good team which should be in the upcoming 2014 World Cup in Brazil & will be a squad that will give others plenty to think about. Spain, although pushed to their limits & without some regular players, needed this tough sparring match to keep them all on their toes, as you cannot "sleep" at this level of Football.

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SPAIN FOOTBALL TEAM LIST FOR FINLAND - CHILE MATCHES

The Spanish Football National Team Selector & Coach Vicente Del Bosque handed in his list of players for the upcoming 2014 World Cup Group qualifier against Finland & the International Friendly against Chile.

The novelties, or news catchers,  are the inclusion of three Atletico de Madrid players: David Villa, Mario Suarez & young Koke. Apart Real Sociedad defender Iñigo Martinez & Isco retain their spot in the Spanish National Team.

Here is the full list of players:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Reina (Nápoles) & Victor Valdes (Barcelona).

Defenders: Alvaro Arbeloa & Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Iñigo Martinez (Real Sociedad), Raúl Albiol (Napoles), Jordi Alba (Barcelona) & Nacho Monreal (Arsenal).

Midfielders: Koke & Mario Suarez (Atlético de Madrid), Busquets, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas & Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Francisco Alarcon 'Isco' (Real Madrid), Santiago Cazorla (Arsenal), Jesus Navas (Manchester City) & David Silva (Manchester City).


Forwards: Alvaro Negredo (Manchester City), Roberto Soldado (Tottenham), David Villa (Atlético de Madrid) & Pedro (Barcelona).

Spain plays Finland on the 6th of September & then flys of to Switzerland  for a Friendly against Chile on the 10th of Spetember.

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SPAIN SUFFERS TO WIN 3 - 2 CHILE IN INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

The SPANISH FOOTBALL NATIONAL TEAM managed to comeback & defeat a difficult CHILE 3 - 2 tonight in an International Friendly played in Geneva ( Switzerland). There was two SPAINs tonight: a terrible & unrecognisable first half team & an improved more efficient second half side. However the Spanish victory came thanks to a "non-existent" last minute penalty that rebounded back into the path of Cesc Fabregas who had just hit the goalie. Luck was on Spain's side tonight. 

Spanish Football Team members

Spanish National Coach Vicent del Bosque experimented giving some players some non-habitual playing minutes & putting into the defence Javi Martinez ( a midfielder) & Albiol ( not having time at Real Madrid). The "new look" defence was out of touch as Chile score two fabulous & spectacular goals; ISLA in the 10th min & VARGAS in the 20th min that rocked the World Champs. The Spanish midfield,  with only XAVI as the creative brain,  wasn't firing & his team-mate Xabi Alonso wasn´t connecting. In a nutshell, a totally uncoordinated Spanish Team that was unknown to observers.

The second half saw ANDRES INIESTA come on & revolutionize the team, & even scored in the 55th min. His presence was vital in tonight's Spanish victory. Spain brought on some real fire power in the midfield with CESC FABREGAS , PEDRO & CAZORLA to win back the midfield & the all important ball. The second & equalizer came in the 70th min via FABREGAS & the winner in the 90th agin via FABREGAS with a penalty that wasn´t on Arbeloa.


In conclusion, a real scare tonight for the World Champions who should - my opinion - forget the experimentations & concentrate on playing with the "big guns" from the start. It is clear that the defence suffers without Pique ( injured) & Puyol (injured) & that this is an area for deep study for the National Coach Del Bosque in coming days.

Yes, there was a slight brawl at the end between Chilean & Spanish players. Iniesta drove crazy his opponents, but lets stick to the Footy. We already have had quite a few days-weeks of debates about the "other" local brawls :O)


Details:


SPAIN - 3: Casillas (Reina, m.46); Sergio Ramos, Raúl Albiol, Javi Martínez, Arbeloa; Busquets, Xabi Alonso (Iniesta, m. 46), Xavi (Cesc, m. 64); Silva (cazorla, m. 79), Villa (Pedro, m. 46) & Negredo(Fernando Torres, m. 64).


CHILE -2: Claudio Bravo; Arturo Vidal, Pablo Contreras, Jara; Mauricio Isla (Meneses, m. 83), Medel (Estrada, m. 88), Carmona, Beausejour (Felipe Gutiérrez, m. 79), Jorge Valdivia (Orellana, m.86); Alexis Sánchez & Eduardo Vargas (Felipe Seymour, m. 58).


Goals: 0-1, m. 10: Isla. 0-2, m. 20: Vargas. 1-2, m. 55: Iniesta. 2-2, m. 70: Cesc. 3-2, m. 90: Cesc.

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SPAIN vs CHILE | INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY | GENEVA 2nd SEPTEMBER

The SPANISH FOOTBALL Federation has announced today that SPAIN will meet CHILE in an upcoming Friendly International to be played in Geneva (Switzerland) on the 2nd of September. The cited game for Spain was originally meant for Brazil, which pulled out & cancelled without any real reason, which leads to suspect that they wished to confront the current World Champions under better conditions. Said this, Spain isn´t exactly in their best moment or in their best form either. 

Spain vs Chile 2011

Things being as they may, the match against Chile is top notch, as the latter will look for "sporting revenge" remembering their defeat at the hands of Spain in their World Cup group clash last year. Plus the big Chilean community here in Spain & aboard will no doubt be excited, along with all Football fans,  to be able to watch how this meet-up ends.

Take note of the date: 2nd of September - Geneva (Switzerland)


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SPAIN FOOTBALL TEAM LINE UP AGAINST CHILE | INIESTA FIT ARBELOA TO REPLACE CAPDEVILA

Source : Sp Ftball Sprts /
Surfed the Spanish press & checked all the comments from the media observers down South Africa following the SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM & the news is that everyone is fit except SERGIO RAMOS. The defender received a heavy knock in the ribs against Switzerland & played with pain – killers against Honduras. A pre-match concern to keep following closely as apparently he was the only player not with the full SPAIN FOOTBALL TEAM at last nights training session which was a “dress rehearsal” for the important Chile game tomorrow. However, he was training this morning & I am sure he will start even if he has to play with "pain killers" again.

The other news is that ANDRES INIESTA is expected to be back in the starting line up against Chile & that Arbeloa may come in to replace Capdevila. The Spanish Soccer Team seems concerned about their flanks & especially with young Chilean winger Alexis Sanchez who is fast & will need some special attention. Arbeloa is seen as a better “marker” than Capdevila who is more attacking & who is prone to tiredness if he has to race back every time to cover his position.

The other remaining doubt is if Spain plays upfront with Torres – Villa or just Villa. In the later case David Silva would be back in the starting line – up.

At this point of time I speculate – repeat that I speculate – that the SPAIN FOOTBALL TEAM LINE UP against CHILE could be the following:
Casillas, Ramos, Pique, Puyol, Arbeloa, Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, David Villa & Fernando Torres
( David Silvia if Spain plays with 1 forward upfront) Tweet

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FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | 32 TEAMS | GROUP H

Source Blog : Sp Ftball Sports

Today we feature the Group that has the SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM . All the other Groups ( A - G) have already been posted with their respective team photos & are available here & via the Search Engines if you missed out on your squad. Hope you enjoyed the daily series, I will be continuing following the Spanish Football Team & all the South Africa FIFA World Cup 2010 events.

GROUP H

SPAIN

CHILE
HONDURAS
SWITZERLAND
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DAKER 2009: MARC COMA WINS IN BIKES

SFS congratulates Spanish Motorbike rider MARC COMA for winning
this years DAKER Argentina - Chile Rally.










The traditional Daker run through Northern Africa changed this
year to South America after terrorist threats last year. The Spanish
rider was dominant during the whole rally being far the superior rider,
& return to Buenos Aires in front to take the prized title

In the car catagory, the winner was South African De Villiers

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