A Look Ahead To Tomorrow's Final...

Holland vs. Spain.

The venue was decided months before.

The teams were decided in mid-week.

The referee was chosen a few days ago.

The stage is set.

One of these teams will become world champions in a little under 48 hours.

One of these teams will make history for their nation by becoming the 8th different world champion to lift the Jules Rimet trophy.

One question remains: who will it be?

Paul the psychic octopus has opted for Germany's conquerors Spain. So far, this tournament he has predicted every single one of Germany's results correct. But does this psychic octopus only get the German results right?

Mani the Singaporean parakeet on the other hand, has gone for the Dutch. This is turning out to be the battle of the psychic animals by the looks of it.

But what about the battle between the two teams? Here's my view, for what it's worth:

Holland: we've said it before, so we'll say it again. Clearly not the same side as we've seen in previous tournaments. Play a different kind of football, that is evidently working for them - they are 25 games unbeaten. May not be easy on the eye, but ultimately get the job done. Clinical, effective and pragmatic. Sneijder has been a major force for them so far in the tournament. He could be the one to pull it out of the bag again, and get the golden goal that wins it. De Jong and van Bommel need to be on alert. They are the insurance policy for the Oranjes in front of their back four. Have to offer protection against Spain's superior midfield domination. Robben likes to cut in on his left-foot from the right and could be a potential threat to Joan Capdevila - the only first-team Spanish player not to play for Madrid or Barcelona. More service needs to be delivered to van Persie and Kuyt - both are capable of keeping a hold off the ball and running at defenders to create chances. We've seen Holland comeback from conceding a goal, or going a goal down and winning - calm, cool and collected, they won't be too fazed if they don't get the early lead. Have the ability to apply strong pressure, work well as a team in going forward, squeeze the ball into tight areas and are always dangerous until the final whistle. They are also great when they have to defend leads - some might say cautious, but they get pretty much all men at the back. Dogged and resilient in tracking back and clearing the ball. It will be particularly difficult for Spain to try and score in the last few minutes, if the Dutch are leading. They must be careful in their tackling and so on. I read that Holland have committed the most fouls this tournament, so they have to be on their best behaviour to avoid getting sent off because it could change the game (à la Zidane). Bert van Marwijk has his team under control so it will now be down to the players to do the talking on the pitch.

Spain: much more pleasing to watch with their passing game. However, shouldn't get too bogged down in their passing that they miss opportunities and chances to score. Spain have been the most passing side of the tournament. But that should come as no surprise. They totally dominate the midfield, particularly with the likes of Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi. The 4 top players who have passed the most so far are Spaniards. Xavi is no.1 in that list with a whopping 464 passes. And it's no wonder. When he's having a good game, Spain are having a good game, making Spain less of a team and more reliant on individual talents to see them through. Nevertheless, all players should be on form tomorrow in their first-ever final. Whilst not on proper goal-scoring form as we saw in the Euros, Spain have been clinical too. Winning 1-0 in their last three games on the trot. Have a tendency of passing a lot, creating many chances and scoring late on before seeing out the win. We have not yet seen a Spain side come from a losing scoreline to win. Germany couldn't do it, but if Holland get an early lead then it will be interesting to see Spain's reaction. Spain are good at stifling the opposition, and starving them off possession so we shall see how long it takes for Holland to crack open the Spanish side. Spain have got to be more efficient and clinical though in front of goal. If they were less wasteful they would have got more than only 7 out of 103 shots into the back of the net. That amount of shots is the most for this tournament, so they definitely have something going forward. Largely due to starman David Villa. Strike partner Torres has been out of form, like many big names in this tournament so far, that's probably why they've only scored 7. Doubts over whether he will start - probably not, instead Pedro will most likely go on in his place. Talent all over the pitch, particularly midfield. Busquets is the insurance policy in front off the back four, has been untroubled so far. Not short of intelligent players, but need to be less selfish so that they can kill off the games (Pedro - against Germany, for example). Ramos, Pique and Puyol like to get upfield during the game, particularly Ramos down the right - could cause problems, if Holland break on the counter and they are short of cover at the back. Managed to deal quite effectively with Germany's counter-attacking style though, so will be looking to do much the same tomorrow. Alonso likes to shoot from range so Stekelenburg needs to be alert at all times. Spain might try to expose the weaknesses of Holland's keeper, who made a mistake against Uruguay, allowing them back into the game.

Believe it or not but Holland and Spain have never clashed before in either a Euro game or a World Cup game. Spain have always been hindered at the quarter-finals stage whereas Holland have never been able to beat the host nation in the finals, losing 2 out of 2 finals matches.

For England fans, we can be happy in the knowledge, that we WILL be represented in the final after all, as Howard Webb and his two assistants have been chosen to be the official referees in the game. A bittersweet decision, after England were kicked out off the competition over a poor refereeing decision. Speaking off, FIFA have announced that this will be the last tournament without technology. A bit late for England now and it will be interesting to see whether any controversial decisions occur tomorrow to make them regret their resistance to video technology even more. For the fairness of the game, and for the sake of the officials, let's hope not. Howard Webb has already officiated at the UEFA CL final last season, so should have no real nerves at doing the same in tomorrow's game. At least now three Englishmen will receive world cup medals, so we're not that useless after all. In all seriousness, the refereeing from the English officials has been spot-on. Darren Cann has been correct in all the offside decisions he has made, even the tight ones and Howard Webb has been no pushover, particularly when it came to players diving. I wish them the best of luck tomorrow.

Before the WC began, I chose a team to support in 'reserve', should England go out of the competition early and should my 'reserve' team still be in with a chance. That 'reserve' team? Holland.

Also before the WC began, I did one of those office sweepstake predictions chart plotting the whole thing based on recent results, form and so on. The team I predicted to win? Spain.

So: will it be three-times lucky for the Dutch? Or will 'beginner's' luck prevail for the Spanish?

More importantly, who will win in the battle of the psychic animals?

My prediction? Do I go with Paul or Mani?

Well: my heart says the Dutch, but my head says the Spanish.

Spain Snatch Semi-Final Spot!

Spain will now face Germany in their first ever World Cup semi-final after they beat Paraguay one-nil in the evening kick-off in Ellis Park stadium. It was Paraguay's first ever time playing in the quarter-finals whereas for Spain, the quarter-final stage has been a bit of a bogey stage for them in recent World Cups. They have reached it 5 times, but have failed to get any further than that.

Paraguay became the third South American team to exit the competition, in the space of 2 days as Spain's progression now guarantees European representation at the final. Looking at the ties involving European teams, one could say that Spain had the "easiest" of the lot, with Holland having to face Brazil and Germany having to face Argentina. However, they made hard work of their victory last night and will now be looking to improve on their performance, ahead of their semi-final against Germany on Wednesday night.

The first-half passed relatively uneventfully. It was actually Paraguay that settled much better into the game, having a few chances and increasing the pressure on their opposition. Gerardo Martino's team were much improved from their woeful performance against Japan. He had made wholesale changes, bringing in 6 different players to the team that won on penalties against Japan in the second-round. The changes seemed to be paying dividends, when Santana shot straight at Casillas, in the very early exchanges. Riveros saw his header go wide whilst Nelson Valdez, who had impressed me when he came on as a sub against Japan, was a real menace to the Spanish defence with his speed and quick passing.

The problem with Paraguay, as we saw against Japan, was that they managed to get into good positions, particularly on the counter but were too slow at moving the ball forward and thus taking advantage of the space and time they had. This was particularly frustrating, as Spain then became more dominant in possession and comfortable with their passing. Still, Paraguay did their best to block the Spaniards from getting too comfortable in midfield. They were decent in defence which prevented too many Spanish players from getting in the box. Del Bosque had once again kept his faith in Fernando Torres, with reports suggesting that he was going to be dropped. However, like in his previous games, he failed to impose himself on the game and even when he got into good positions in the box, he was not able to really do anything with the ball, as we know he can or as we have seen him do at Liverpool. The best chance for Spain came from Xavi, who was able to turn with the ball and just shoot over the bar.

Paraguay had a goal disallowed for offside just before the first half ended, when Valdez had slotted in from close-range. Replays showed that Valdez was not offside, but his teammate, Oscar Cardozo was, and as he was interfering with the run of play, the assistant had no choice but to flag Valdez. Spain were left largely frustrated as they headed into the break and knew they needed to up their game badly, if they were to see off the resilient South Americans. Shortly after the second half had gotten underway, Del Bosque made his first substitution of the game - taking off the ineffective Torres for Cesc Fabregas.

The game really heated up when we had some penalty drama at both ends, not too long after the restart. First Paraguay got a penalty, and thus a chance, to get themselves into the lead and put Spain on the backfoot. Pique had blatantly held onto Cardozo in the box, when Paraguay were given a freekick - in fact he was holding on to his hand so much as though he was on some kind of ride, and was afraid of letting go. It was quite funny, but stupid by the experienced Pique too. Oscar Cardozo, was also the man to take the spotkick. It was his kick that had won the shootout against Japan but this time he kicked it straight at Casillas, who not only made the save, but did really well to hang onto the ball too to prevent any rebounds from going in.

Not even a minute later, Spain were awarded a penalty at the other end of the pitch. I don't think I have ever seen that in a football match before where first one team has a penalty, and then 30 seconds after their penalty is taken, the other team gets one at the other end. Alcaraz was ruled to have brought down Villa in the box, giving Alonso the chance to give Spain the lead. His penalty did go in but was adjudged to have been encroached by several Spanish players running into the box before he had struck the ball. Replays actually showed this to have happened on all 3 kicks that were taken, but it was Alonso's first try that was forced to be retaken. It was a funny, psychological battle as to where he would put it...in the same spot or somewhere different? He chose the same spot...but so did the keeper, however, unlike Casillas he could not hold on to the ball forcing a scramble from both sets of players in an attempt to get the ball. This was where there was another big shout for a penalty, as Villar tripped Cesc Fabregas as he tried to get to the ball. The replay showed it was a penalty but perhaps the referee had had enough of giving them, and felt that he couldn't give yet another one even if it meant disobeying the law. Sergio Ramos had actually latched on to the ball but it was blocked off the line.

What incredible drama! It was enough to get everyone out of their seats, in what had been a largely uneventful tie thusfar. Following on from the whole penalty shenanigans, the game became much more open as both sides tried to see it off before extra time could commence. It was end-to-end stuff and it wasn't until less than 10 minutes before the end, that Villa scored his fifth goal of the tournament to snatch the win for Spain. Before his goal, the substitute Pedro had seen his shot rebound off the woodwork, however Villa made sure his went in between the posts before he went off to celebrate with his teammates. Busquets got the ball into the area and fired it goalwards, only to see it rebound off the post...but it found its way to the ever-present David Villa, whose shot also hit the same post...before pinging toward the other posts and finally settling into the back of the net. It was heartbreaking for Paraguay who had tried so hard until then to keep Spain out and it really looked like we were heading into extra-time once more.

Before the goal, Martino had thrown on all his attacking options in a bid to win but was unable to find a way through as Spain assumed control. Iniesta saw his shot blocked by Villar as Spain were able to see out the win, despite Paraguay coming close to a equaliser extremely late on as Roque Santa Cruz saw his effort on goal saved by Casillas. Villa had the last shot of the game, but again, his attempt was saved. The final whistle resulted in uproar from the Spanish who make their way into their first-ever semi against the Germans, but Cardozo was in tears as he thought ahead to what might have been.

Spain know that they have plenty of work to do as they prepare to face Germany. Many people's favourites before the tournament, will now be viewed as the underdogs. So far, Spain have been able to get away with winning 1-0 but this won't do against the free scoring Germans. The other big question is will Del Bosque start with Torres? He has been ineffective so far, and Fabregas has made an impact when he has come on, so it will definitely be interesting to see whether Del Bosque keeps his faith in El Niño.

Spain, Chile IN; Switzerland OUT

After getting the tournament off to a shaky start, Spain finished the group stages on top, and will now go through to play in an "Iberian derby" with neighbours Portugal, in yet another intriguing all-European encounter. Spain beat 10-man Chile, 2-1 and Switzerland's inability to score saw them exit the competition, after their shock start to the tournament. Spain, like many of the "heavyweights" suffered from something like first (or second, in England's case) match nerves, but a win against Honduras and the victory over Chile meant that they were, in the end, comfortably through to the next round. Chile, who had been sitting pretty at the top of the group, since the opening Group H games, saw themselves slip to second-place setting up a potentially tricky tie against South American neighbours - Brazil. Life will be made a bit harder for Chile who will be without 3 players, who were suspended as a result of the cards they picked up in the game against Spain.

Spain began well with Fernando Torres again at the forefront of all the early chances. However, as stated before, he is still not fully fit, there's clearly something missing there as a fit Torres would surely have put those chances away. Again, he went without scoring in this game after failing to be clinical with the opportunities that were presented to him.

Chile soon upped the pressure though, and it was they who had the most possession and were cutting the Spanish defence open with some good through balls. Mark Gonzalez, who had got the winner against Switzerland, had a great chance to double his goals in the tournament after some nice work by Valdivia and Beausejour, but he failed to control it and the chance went missing.

Chile were rampaging about all over the pitch - they were putting so much energy into their movement, trying to get the ball fizzing about quickly all over the pitch and running around everywhere like madmen - I think it kind of confused the Spanish for a little while, as they tried to figure out how to get at this Chilean team who were doing really well at keeping the ball. But although Chile were trying to overtake the Spanish on every corner of the pitch, they were also losing their discipline and the first half saw 3 Chilean players getting booked with tackles flying in all over the pitch...they weren't pretty ones either. Waldo Ponce and Gary Medel were both booked and will miss the game against Brazil, which is a shame, because Ponce in particular contributes well to the Chilean team.

The first goal therefore came against the run of play for Spain, and due to a bizarre decision by Bravo, who had previously not let in any goals until last night. Torres had got the ball down on the left hand side, and he didn't look particularly threatening and it seemed as though he would take it down to the corner flag anyway. But, Bravo clearly not believing his defenders would be able to deal with Torres came rushing out of his goalkeeping area, right up to the 40 yard line and cleared the ball away from the oncoming Torres, only to pass it to David Villa, who took a speculative shot from 40 yards away and saw it bounce into the deserted net. A poor performance from the keeper, who should have just waited instead of coming out, or made sure he kicked it out of play or to a Chilean player because that cost them a goal, that hadn't looked likely to be scored until that moment. It was a great, if not, lucky goal for Barca's new front-man, and adds to his tally of 3 world cup goals in this tournament.

From that moment onwards, Chile tried to get a goal to level things up, going forwards and inevitably leaving themselves vulnerable at the back. Beausejour went closest for Chile after Spain had taken the lead, when he was one-on-one with Casillas, but a good recovering block by Pique saw the ball safely out of harm's way. But soon, Spain had taken control of the game after scoring their second goal, courtesy of Iniesta, who had been left out of the last game due to injury. Villa, Torres and Iniesta formed a triangle of play, working it up to the Chilean box, before Iniesta took a strike which landed in the far corner. It was a stylish goal from some stylish play and that was where we saw flashes of the Spain side, we expected to see right from the beginning of the tournament.

However, in the build-up to that goal Torres has been tripped by the already yellow-carded Estrada, who then received another yellow before getting sent off. It sparked a lot of confusion after the goal had been scored but replays showed that it was as an accidental trip-up and that Estrada hadn't even seen Torres, as he was fully focused on the ball. The referee had not viewed the incident himself either as he was looking at the ball too, but he went on the reaction of Torres and his teammates, most of whom had gathered around the ref, demanding Estrada to be sent off. It was a poor decision, reminiscent of Stephane Lannoy's one against Kaka, and will mean that Estrada will also miss the clash against Brazil.

For the rest of the half, Spain were in control as 10-man Chile tried to see themselves out to half-time. Chile were much better as the second half got underway despite their disadvantage. Marcelo Bielsa made some attacking changes by bringing on Rodrigo Millar and Carlos Paredes and he was immediately rewarded with a goal from Millar, who managed to find his way past a huddle of Spanish players to get his shot away from outside the box. It took a deflection of Pique before nestling in the back of the net and Chile were back in the game with the whole second-half remaining.

However, the goal didn't really improve the quality of play. If anything it probably deteriorated. Spain were content with passing the ball around and weren't as inclined to score the third goal. As the game wore on, both sets of players seemed unwilling to work as hard as in the first half, knowing that the current result would see them both through with Switzerland still at 0-0 with Honduras. Torres was then substituted for Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas in the 55th minute, and he was clearly unhappy about something - maybe the fact that he was struggling or the fact that he was coming off. But again, he was missing that bit of sparkle that we have seen when he is fully fit. Fabregas was once again, a lively substitute, almost scoring on arrival and then creating perfect passes for David Villa, who was playing up front on his own.

Xabi Alonso was also later substituted, after suffering a crunching tackle late in the first half and there are now doubts over whether he will recover in time to face Portugal in the last 16.

Second Round of Group Games Comes To A Close...

The penultimate round of group games came to a close with Group H, as Chile beat a Swiss side, who were yet again as stubborn as ever, and Spain finally registered their first three points on the table.

Switzerland, who had pulled off a shock victory against the fancied Spanish, were once again sticking to their defensive strategy and hoping it would work against a Chile side that had impressed in their win against Honduras. In one sense, the Swiss side are pretty predictable: they usually stand and defend, defend, defend before breaking on the counter and trying to get a goal. Their tactics were no different this time around, even though their personnel may have been. Von Bergen took the place of the injured Philippe Senderos and injury-prone captain Alexander Frei was also recalled back to the side. West Ham's Valon Behrami, who had sat out the previous game, took the place of Barnetta in the starting eleven. Chile brought in star striker Suazo in an attempt to beat the Swiss with some stylish, attacking play with a little South American flavour.

Now, normally we like to think that a football match is between two teams right? Except, in this match, the referee: Saudi Arabian, Khalil Al-Ghamdi, seemed to want to get his equal share in the limelight, and showed from the first minute of the game that he was a no-nonsense, card-happy referee. A little too card-happy in fact. Al-Ghamdi issued 9 yellow cards during the game, averaging 1 every 10 minutes and inevitably a red was also thrown into the mix. To be honest, I'm surprised there wasn't more than 1 red, because there just seemed to be cards flying everywhere. At least he was consistent...

Unfortunately for the spectator, the game was very much stop-start due to this petty referee, who felt it necessary to whistle for every foul and award free kicks. This obviously suited the Swiss style of play much better as it prevented the Chileans from getting into any kind of rhythm. However, the Swiss were disrupted from their stubborn stance, by the sending-off of Valon Behrami who appeared to have put a hand to the face of Vidal. He was given his marching orders with a straight red, and really should have known better, what with this referee and the fact that if there's any kind of contact made with a player's face, then it's gonna be a sending off. He made his team's job a lot harder, as each man out there had to work that 10% harder for a whole hour more.

Captain, Alex Frei was also forced to be substituted, as a change in tactics was called for by Ottmar Hitzveld. To his credit, he didn't moan or whinge about it, and was pretty understanding as he realised his team needed a change. Hitzveld brought Barnetta on in his place and Switzerland were able to see how the first half without conceding, but without scoring either. The second half, saw some positive Chile substitutions, with coach Marcelo Bielsa sensing his side could split open the seemingly impenetrable Swiss bank vault of a defence and get the three points, that would pretty much seal their passage into the next round. He took off the ineffective and disappointing Suazo for Valdivia and took off Vidal for Paredes.

This turned out to be good thinking by the manager, who was able to get a bit more out of his side going forward. Alexis Sanchez was once again looking lively and willing to run at the Swiss defenders, and it looked like he had scored only to see his celebrations brought to an abrupt end by a correct offside decision, as the ball had taken a deflection of one of the Chilean players in the box.

Switzerland soon made history on the 67th minute mark, as they broke the record for having gone the longest without conceding a goal in a world cup finals match (not including penalties). Remarkably, they hadn't conceded a goal since 1994. However, the Swiss goal wasn't to stay impenetrable for long, as Chile finally scored with 15 minutes to go. Benaglio, who has been superb in the Swiss goal, came out to block Paredes, but Paredes was able to skip past him and supply the pass to Mark Gonzalez, allowing the former Liverpool man to slide the ball home, with only a Swiss defender left on the post.

The Swiss had gone so long without conceding, that they looked quite shocked at what had just happened. They were not used to it at all and now needed to find a way back into the game if they were to get at least a point. And, they nearly had it, as Derdiyok went ever so close to scoring, missing a sitter from 12 yards out. Chile could have sealed their win, at the other end, if their players weren't so selfish! They had some good chances, but Gonzalez in particular tried to do it alone instead of passing to his teammate resulting in an ear-bashing from Bielsa.

Credit must go to the Swiss for the way they have defended. It's not everybody's cup of tea to see them play like that. But it's their way. And, they have done well to have broken the record. In fact, they weren't far off from snatching a point themselves. They can still qualify, but will need to find their shooting boots from somewhere. Chile find themselves at the top of Group H, with a game against Spain still to come.

Talking off Spain - they got themselves up and running after an efficient victory against Honduras to get them on level points with Switzerland. Del Bosque changed his side after that defeat against the Swiss, bringing Torres in to play up front alongside David Villa and replacing the ineffective David Silva with Jesus Navas, who had looked good when he came on as a sub, against Switzerland.

Much like in their first game, Spain were the dominant side, playing largely in the Honduran third of the pitch. It was very rarely that Casillas, who had been at fault for the goal conceded against Switzerland, was called into action. They were dominant in possession and in the number of shots they had and could have scored far more goals than just two. Honduras were unable to challenge the Spaniards, who managed to get into their usual rhythm of short, sharp passes and patient play.

Fernando Torres, back in the side after the injury he suffered with Liverpool, had three glorious chances in the first half to get his side going, but he looked a little rusty with his finishing and lacked that clinical sharpness due to spending so much time on the sidelines in a frustrating season for the Kopites. Had he been on form, there is no doubt he would have been able to see those chances converting into goals, as the Honduran defence struggled to resist the Spanish Armada, as Switzerland had done so brilliantly. Honduras looked amateur at best, and were unable to string many passes together and pull themselves out of their own half.

David Villa, who just signed for Barcelona before the tournament, got his goal tally going with a goal scored just 17 minutes into the game. It was a great goal by Villa, who was wedged in between two Honduran defenders and still managed to get the shot away and on target, with just enough power on it, to evade the keeper. As I said, they could have been comfortable winners by the time half-time rolled around, with the amount of chances they had, but went into the break with just one goal to their name.

There was another "facial contact" incidence involving man of the moment, Villa himself who was probably thankful that the referee didn't spot this, and unlike in the Brazil game, chose not to act on it. Villa was seen to have slapped or put a hand in the face of Izaguirre, and would surely have been sent off had the referee or the assistant spotted it.

Luckily for Spain, he wasn't and it was Villa that got them their second, shortly after the break. Villa could have got the second hattrick of the competition, had he not missed from the penalty spot. Spain were awarded the penalty when Navas was brought down by Izaguirre, and David Villa missed despite sending the keeper the wrong way. The ball missed the left side of Valladares' goal by a few inches. That was the first penalty of the tournament, to not have either gone in or been saved by a keeper.

With the game, pretty much wrapped up, Del Bosque brought on Cesc Fabregas who made an immediate impact as soon as he was introduced to the game. He went close on two occasions to scoring and also set up chances for his teammates. Honduras, to their credit, did well to keep the score at a respectable 2-0, instead of capitulating as North Korea had done previously.

Spain, will now look to the clash against Chile, who are red hot at the moment, after securing 6 points out of a possible 6. Spain will also be keeping an eye on the other game, as both games very much rely on each other in determining who goes through and who misses out. The Group H final group games will provide intriguing viewing and could set up a Spain-Brazil encounter in the last 16. If Spain go out though, it will be another shock for Europe and will mean that the World Cup has eluded them yet again...

Swiss stun Spain in shock victory!

Yes, that's right. Switzerland beat one of the tournament's favourites and European champions, Spain. The team that has been labelled as one of the most talented and attacking sides in the competition and the team that has lost only once in 48 games was left frustrated after an inspired Swiss performance.

I, like many people, have been eagerly awaiting Spain's first game and if I'm honest, I probably like most people, thought that Spain would win this without too many problems. I mean, we know that the Swiss can defend...really defend: at the last world cup, they didn't concede one goal and went out of the tournament without doing so (they eventually went out on penalties). But, it just seemed that Spain's attacking prowess and genuine forward talent would win out eventually. Torres and Fabregas were left on the bench, after having only just made recoveries from their various injury problems. Even if they were fit and ready to play though, it would be pretty difficult to find a starting place on that team, especially for Fabregas. Everywhere you look in the Spanish team, there is real experience and talent. I shan't think they'd worry too much, if one of their players got injured as they have good cover everywhere.

If you watched the game you will know that it was virtually all Spain. They had almost all the possession and the chances. They were pressing and pressing all game long, but it was just one move from Switzerland that a) went completely against the run of play and b) shocked the Spaniards into losing for the first time against their European counterparts. In fact, before that Casillas had largely been a spectator, and as for the Spanish defenders, well they spent so much time upfield, that they were probably not expecting what happened at the start of the second half. I know that most people watching probably weren't expecting it either.

As I mentioned before, the Spaniards were totally dominant. They were able to get into a rhythm of short passes, that we know they love to do and do so well, but were just unable to infiltrate an organised and dedicated Swiss defence. To their credit, Ottmar Hitzveld's Switzerland team showed great desire to stand up to the Spanish team and stay alert at all times. Spain had chances and several of them, but again, were unable to find the finish they so badly needed. The game went into half time 0-0 with Spain quite clearly the better of the two. Del Bosque had employed a 4-5-1 system, with the likes of Silva, Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta packed into the midfield and David Villa, as the lone striker up front. Unfortunately for Switzerland, Philippe Senderos was forced off with an injury, and I felt totally gutted for the player, whose father is Spanish, as he limped off the pitch. Watching from the sidelines though, he would have been proud of his team mates.

The second half began the way the first half had ended. Spanish passing, control, chances: in two words - total domination. It was from a long kick launched upfield by the Swiss keeper Benaglio that the Swiss goal was created from. The ball was controlled by Derdiyok who somehow managed to get it to former Man City boy, Gelson Fernandes to finish off a swift move which tore apart the Spanish defence and left Pique and Casillas in a heap. It was as scrappy a goal as I've seen in this tournament and totally undeserved by a team who had spent the vast majority of the game in their own half.

Following the goal Del Bosque sent Torres and Navas on to try and conjure up some magic to get Spain back in the game. They made an immediate impact and looked lively but ultimately failed to break down the solid Swiss defence. Chance after chance after chance came and went amiss after that goal as Spain desperately tried to redeem themselves and overturn the 1-0 lead. Switzerland's goalkeeper had a huge part to play in keeping the Spanish out. Spain's best chance probably came from former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso who nearly snapped the crossbar in two with a ferocious shot from just outside the area. We've seen him strike them from range before for Liverpool, and out of the many long distance shots that have been taken by a lot of the players so far, that was probably the closest on target. Having seen that rebound off the bar, Spain must have felt that it just wasn't their day.

Having reversed to a 4-4-2 formation, and with their centre backs pouring forward to create a goal, Spain were left open at the back which left room for some good counter-attacking football from Switzerland, who were almost able to make it 2-0 with Derdiyok's shot on goal. As much as I love and admire Spain and the way they play, throughout the game I found myself supporting and urging the Swiss on more and more as the game wore on. The game was really off-your-seat football and I could barely sit still as the time wore on and on.

Spain had 5 minutes of added time to save themselves and they were knocking at Switzerland's door...knocking hard, but were unable to find a way past it. The game ended 1-0 provoking wild celebrations from the Swiss who had set out to get a draw. Spain were shocked, as were most people no doubt.

To be fair, it hasn't been a great start for the fancied sides and the favourites. A massive 3 points sent Switzerland joint top and they must now be relishing the prospect of making it to the last 16. Chile also proved that they are contenders too, so Spain might be feeling the heat, just a little. I am sure they will still qualify, but there is the big possibility that they may play Brazil in the last 16 if they finish in 2nd place. Although it would provide for a tasty encounter, it was probably many sweepstakers prediction for the final. I know that the games from the last few days have sent a lot of my predictions down the drain.

This game proved that no matter the style, flair and talent that one side may have and no matter how one sided the game is, any team can be undone by simple intelligence. Hitzveld knew the way the Spaniards would come at the Swiss and so set his team up to stop their fancy footwork and short passing, the best way he knew how...and it worked. Spain were unable to adapt the way they play against a stubborn Swiss side. Spain ran out of ideas and could not come up with something that would break down Swiss resistance. It just goes to show, that no matter how unbeatable you have been in the past, you are not unbeatable forever.

The game ended the first group games of this year's tournament. As we head into the second lot of group games, I will be hoping for greater urgency, better attacking football and for more of my predictions to start coming true!