Last night in South Africa, the 2010 FIFA World Cup round of 16 came to an end, with two more nations arranging flights home earlier than they had hoped – while another two see their dreams of becoming World Champions drift ever closer.
The results mean Spain will meet Paraguay at the Ellis Park Stadium on the 3rd of July.
Opening the evening’s proceedings was the match between Paraguay and Japan at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
In what started out as a cautious game of football, the flurry of attempts on goal saw little in the way of reward. Ultimately, 120 minutes of football could not separate these two teams who had never made it to a World Cup quarterfinal, and so it went to penalties.
While both sides had their chances during standard play, neither could break through the oppositions defence, although the Japanese looked slightly vulnerable despite some strong football by Keisuke Honda.
Opportunities fell for Paraguay through Roque Santa Cruz who blasted a shot wide early on – although constantly looked dangerous.
Extra time saw no real opportunities for either side, and so came the dreaded spot-kicks, which saw just one man from nine miss – Yuichi Komano who struck the crossbar, and so Oscar Cardozo stepped up to send his nation through, and did so in style while Japan saw their dreams come crashing down.
The excited Paraguayans then looked to Cape Town to see who would be their next hurdle in the quest for the crown.
European neighbours Spain and Portugal took to the Green Point Stadium for their anticipated match, fighting for a spot in the quarters.
It was just a single goal, and another fantastically worked spectacle of football in the penalty area by David Villa which separated the two at 90 minutes, when he converted a rebound shot under the crossbar and bulging into the net.
For the first time this tournament, Spain finally came together as the side most knew they could be, and with Fernando Torres on form, along with the magician Xabi Alonso in midfield – sent a message to the remaining quarterfinalists they are in South Africa to go all the way.
It was a show of fine goalkeeping by both men on the backline, with Eduardo keeping the Portuguese in the game up until the final whistle with some quick reflexes preventing the Spanish from doubling their lead.
The Spanish also proved they can keep the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, considered to be one of the top two or three players in the world at the moment quiet, making sure he could not manipulate the tempo of the fixture.
The results mean Spain will meet Paraguay at the Ellis Park Stadium on the 3rd of July, in a fixture which will see the South Americans looking to further their best ever run in the tournament, while the Europeans look to take the Cup itself.
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