Calls For Tory Sports Minister To Quit After Hillsborough Jibe

Conservative Sports Minister Jeremy Hunt has resisted calls to step down from his post, after a comment he made on the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster, which has angered many relatives of the injured and the dead. 

Appearing on Sky News on Monday afternoon, Mr. Hunt was praising the behaviour of England supporters in South Africa, where despite the team’s embarrassing exit from the World Cup, at the hands of Germany, not a single arrest was made.  He then went on to make this remark:

“I mean, not a single arrest for a football-related offence, and the terrible problems that we had in Heysel and Hillsborough in the 1980’s seem to be behind us.”

To say the least, it wasn’t the best remark to come out with, and has seen the city of Merseyside respond in fury, that he was implying that fans were to blame for Britain’s worst sporting disaster.  On April 15^th 1989, 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death on terraces of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough, whilst attending the team’s FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest.  An enquiry into the events of that fateful day twenty years ago, led by the late Lord Justice Taylor found that police crowd control was the main reason for the horrific crush, not hooliganism. 

After realising his damming comments could have caused offence, Hunt released the following statement hours later:

“I apologise to Liverpool fans and the families of those killed and injured if my comments caused any offence.”

That apology doesn’t wash though with the chairwoman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group.  Margaret Aspinall, who lost her son James at Hillsborough said:

“I am fed up of people saying things like that.  For 21 years, we have been fighting for justice, to get the message out that it was not down to drink or hooliganism.  He is the Culture Secretary.  He should know better.  I want him to understand that he has reopened old wounds which should have been healed many years ago.” 

After apologising, Hunt has received the full backing from the Prime Minister David Cameron.  However, for those who lost people at Hillsborough, the pain will never go away, and they will feel that this piece of incompetence should be heavily punished for more than a simple apology.

Germany 4-1 England: Sorry England Humiliated In Bloemfontein

England’s players looked dejected at full-time, and no wonder, after a pitiful and abject display in Bloemfontein on Sunday, that pretty much summed up their World Cup campaign.  Forgettable!

Fabio Capello’s team weren’t the Three Lions; they looked like eleven Lambs to the slaughter, as they were thrashed by Germany.  The scoreline ended 4-1, and quite frankly could have been a whole lot more, had it not be for some smart stops from goalkeeper David James.  Although England had a perfectly good goal ruled out, when Frank Lampard’s delicate chip bounced over the line, but was remarkably missed by the clueless Uruguayan match officials, there could be no doubt which side deserved to go through.

Capello didn’t make any changes from the side that worked hard to beat Slovenia in Port Elizabeth last Wednesday.  Consequently, he resisted the urge to bring Ledley King back, ahead of schedule and stuck with Matthew Upson.  Twenty minutes in, he might well have been regretting yet another tactical error.  A long goal-kick by Manuel Neuer went a full 80 yards.  John Terry mistimed his jump and Upson was caught ball-watching.  In a flash, the prolific Miroslav Klose stole through and beat the despairing James to cap a fine return from suspension.  For England, it was a shambolic goal to concede, the sort of goal you concede on a Sunday League pitch, not a World Cup second-round match.  Eleven minutes later, the defence once again was exposed, by a neat German move which involved Klose and the energetic Thomas Muller.  As Glen Johnson went to close Muller down, Upson was miles away from the action, and that allowed Lukas Podolski the freedom of Bloemfontein.  Despite a poor first touch, he still managed to squeeze the ball inside James’s near post to make it 2-0 and leave England in big trouble.

Within of six crazy minutes though, England could have been level, if not for a sharp turn of fortunes.  First, the Germans fell asleep on a short corner, and Steven Gerrard curled a delightful cross, Upson rose furthest and beat Neuer to the ball, nestling in the bottom of the net.  It was Upson’s second international goal for England and ironically, the first one had come against the Germans in a friendly win in Berlin back in November 2008.  Less than ninety seconds later, Jermain Defoe’s sharp turn had the defence on the backfoot again.  The ball approached Lampard, who hit a delicious lob, which beat the unconvincing Neuer and bounced miles across the line.  England fans went wild; Capello punched the air in delight, Lampard wheeled away in celebration.  It was now 2-2, or was it?  Amazingly, everyone in the stadium, on TV saw it cross the line, yet it wasn’t given.  The match officials had not seen it.  Television replays confirmed the blundering miss by the officials.  Once again, the rejection of goal-line technology earlier in the year had come back to haunt FIFA on the global stage.  I personally hope Sepp Blatter; the President of FIFA was squirming in his seat, wondering where he goes from here, if he doesn’t introduce the technology that football badly craves for.

After an absorbing end to the first half, surely England would carry on their momentum into the restart.  Well, they did briefly, with Lampard coming close again, a free-kick beating Neuer, but shaving off the crossbar.  With twenty-five minutes remaining and Joe Cole brought into the attack, England were throwing the dice, but once more, their hopeless defending was exposed by the deadly German counter-attack.  Gareth Barry was robbed with possession and away came Joachim Low’s team again, with the outstanding Meszut Ozil and Bastian Schweinsteiger pulling all the strings.  This time, the ball landed at Muller’s feet and the 20-year old lashed a powerful drive past James, which killed the game off.

Moments later, Glen Johnson was carelessly caught out and Ozil outstripped him for brutal pace, squaring the ball past James, allowing Muller to tuck away his second in quick succession.  To cap off Capello’s miserable day, at 4-1 down, he took off goal threat Defoe, for the dopey Emile Heskey.  To be honest, it summed up England’s game, England’s tournament, England’s nightmare.  Germany eased through the last twenty minutes, and now can prepare their youngsters for a tasty quarter-final on Saturday with Maradona’s Argentina in Cape Town.

For England’s flops, it was an early flight home.  For the players, it was the chance to feel that they blown it yet again!  They went to South Africa with high hopes, but instead performed like a bunch of clueless highly-paid superstars, putting in the country’s worst performance at the World Cup for sixty years. 

Wayne Rooney looked unfit, lacked fitness and match practice.  He looked more likely to be sent off, than score in South Africa.  Gerrard lacked the dynamic passion as a leader, surprising considering his Liverpool glory as their inspirational leader.  Lampard rarely featured, Heskey was just the bumbling clown everyone predicted, Rob Green needs to learn how to catch and hold onto a ball and even the usually energetic and buzzing Ashley Cole was at least a yard short.  Capello must wait another two weeks, before learning whether he will be leading England into qualification for Euro 2012.  This has been another tournament full of hope and expectation, but once more, delivered the usual failings and disasters you would associate with our national team.  England’s worst ever World Cup defeat and dire South African performance must leave for some serious scratching of heads in the coming months.    

2010 European Grand Prix - Vettel Charges To Euro Glory

It was Germany’s day in the sporting world yesterday.  Not only did their footballers take full advantage of England’s liability of a defence, Sebastian Vettel cruised to victory in a fairly dramatic European Grand Prix on the streets of Valencia.  However, it was his team-mate who took the main headlines, for the wrong reasons, as Mark Webber had a very lucky escape.

Webber has made a disastrous start, being shuffled back from 2^nd to 9^th and made an early pitstop in an effort to move up the order.  On Lap 9, he rapidly closed in on the slow Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen.  Kovalainen made a pointless effort to defend, considering he was four seconds slower and Webber misjudged the Finn’s braking point.  The result was dramatic and cataclysmic.  The Australian walloped into the back of Heikki at 196mph and somersaulted into the air, landing upside down, and then careering at unabated speed into the tyre barriers.  Amazingly, he walked away without a scratch, though visibly shaken by the incident.  No doubt, this was a lucky escape for Formula One.

   

Vettel started from pole, and resisted an aggressive start from championship leader Lewis Hamilton.  Despite some minor contact, it was Hamilton who came off worse, requiring a new front wing.  He also misjudged the timing of the Safety Car being released out of the pits after the Webber/Kovalainen smash, and overtook it on-track.  Consequently, he got landed with a drive-through penalty, but built up enough of an advantage to remain in second spot.  Despite closing up at times on the German, Hamilton never looked like troubling Vettel, who cruised to an untroubled victory, remarkably only his second victory of the 2010 season.

 

Hamilton’s second place finish outraged Ferrari, who saw Hamilton speed away from the Safety Car, yet back-up Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.  As a result, their race was well and truly compromised, as they were forced to queue in the pits, and with overtaking limited, screwed their chances of a decent finish.  Alonso even had the indignity of being overtaken in the dying stages, by the Ferrari-shod Sauber of Japanese driver, Kamur Kobayashi.  8^th place was not what the doctor ordered for the Spaniard, who was furious afterwards, complaining bitterly about Hamilton’s lack of respect for the rules.  After his delay, Massa was never in contention and finished well outside the points for the second successive race.

Kobayashi made the most of the Safety Car, and stuck it out on the more preferred prime tyre for 53 of the 57 laps, therefore running in 3^rd for most of the race.  His late stop dropped him back, but two fantastic moves on Alonso and Sebastian Buemi saw him finish a well-deserved 7^th.  Pedro de la Rosa also scored a point, but saw it taken away in the stewards room, when he was one of nine drivers penalised for going too fast under Safety Car conditions.  With Vitaly Petrov also suffering this fate, it allowed a very fortunate Nico Rosberg into the points.  It was a miserable weekend for Mercedes, with Michael Schumacher another victim of the Safety Car conditions.  He was forced to wait under a red light, and wait for the crocodile to go past the pitlane.  Having started 15^th, it was left for him to be restricted to a test session.

Jenson Button finished a strong and solid 3^rd, ahead of last year’s winner, Rubens Barrichello.  Barrichello’s drive was brilliant, showing that Williams still have potential after a difficult 2010 so far.  Robert Kubica continued his rich vein of points scoring, with another committed effort on his way to 5^th, with Adrian Sutil doing likewise for Force India, winding up 6^th.  All these four drivers were penalised five seconds for the Safety Car regulation, yet it didn’t affect their finishing positions.

For Mark Webber, he was lucky to escape from a scary moment for the sport, but Sebastian Vettel breathed new momentum and life into his previous limping championship challenge.  Silverstone is next in a fortnight’s time, with McLaren leading the constructors’ championship and Hamilton and Button heading there, still 1-2 in the drivers’ championship.  More twists are bound to happen, as F1 2010 reaches its halfway stage.  

F1 Half-Term Report - Back To School

Nine races down, ten to go and it is time to assess a selection of the crème of the crop of 2010.  Grand Prix drivers will be going back to school, as I grade how they have done from A to F.  Some spectacular drives, farcical mistakes and controversial moments – the damming reports are in.

Jenson Button                   (McLaren Mercedes)                                     A-

Jenson arrived at McLaren as the World Champion and some doubted whether he had made the right move – transferring into Hamilton’s den.  He proved that wrong with fantastic strategically gambles that paid off with brilliant and unexpected victories in Melbourne and in China.  A poor drive in Barcelona and a grumpy weekend in Monaco showed that Jenson still has some cracks in his mettle, but he has the consistency and the smoothness to become world champion again.  Certainly, he’s a contender for the rest of the season.  Well done Jenson on proving the critics, including myself wrong.

Sebastian Vettel              (Red Bull Racing Renault)                            B+

Sebastian Vettel has had the fastest car all season, yet mainly down to reliability, he hasn’t been able to dominate the championship.  He lost certain victories in the first two races, and it soon became clear that Seb was feeling the pressure.  Mark Webber hit the top of his game and Vettel’s response: To drive into his team-mate and ruin Red Bull’s chances of certain 1-2 in Istanbul.  Sunday’s controlled win in Valencia has put him back in the mix, but no more mistakes can be afforded by both team and driver.  Vettel is speedy, but still lacking the cutting edge on a consistent basis.

Lewis Hamilton                                (McLaren Mercedes)                    A+

Lewis Hamilton heads to Silverstone and his home race in a fortnight’s time, leading the drivers’ championship.  Over the balance of the first nine races, Hamilton has been the class of the field in 2010 and only, some bad luck on his side of the McLaren garage has denied him a bigger lead.  A tyre explosion robbed him of a deserved 2^nd place in the closing stages in Spain, and strategy gambles left him at the back and too much to do on raceday in Malaysia – plus a certain rostrum in the Australian Grand Prix.  However, victories in Istanbul and Montreal showed his new ability to string together consistent results, and together with the aggression that we love to see Hamilton showing, Lewis could well be the man holding the cards.  Top of the class, keep it up Lewis!

Rubens Barrichello         (Williams Cosworth)                                      B-

He is the most experienced soul in the paddock, and Rubens is still turning in some brilliant performances in some very tricky circumstances.  The Williams is by far, nowhere near the strongest car in the field, but his development of the car and the way he has helped Nico Hulkenberg into the sport must be praised.  Stirring points drives in Melbourne and Valencia have been the stand-ups in 2010, and if he can keep his cool, unlike he did following his Monaco race-ending crash, then more rewards will arrive in the second half of the season.  His season is still well and truly alive.

Fernando Alonso             (Ferrari)                                                       B+

When Fernando signed on the dotted line with Ferrari, surely this was the perfect combination and an ominous sign was sent out to everyone when he led team-mate Massa home to a Bahrain 1-2 in the season opener.  However, he has made a series of enforced errors that have plagued his campaign.  A blatant jumpstart in China, coupled with a practice smash in Monaco which ruined his weekend in the Principality and spinning on the first corner in Melbourne have left him needing a lot of recovery drives.  Nevertheless, fighting efforts in Canada and Spain still highlight his true class, and he is still well in the reckoning for the championship.  Solid, but must improve to stay in the race.

Felipe Massa                     (Ferrari)                                                     C+

Felipe Massa made a brilliant return to F1, with a strong, stirring drive to second place in Bahrain on his comeback.  Two races later, he led the world championship, but now he lies 8^th and pretty much out of contention already at the halfway stage.  Apart from a gutsy 4^th place drive on the streets of Monte Carlo, Massa’s performances have been very erratic and off-form.  He was nowhere in comparison to team-mate Alonso in China, Spain or Canada and some will be questioning the wisdom of a recent new two-year deal.  Massa needs to string performances together and fast. 

Robert Kubica                   (Renault)                                                    B+

Finally, Robert Kubica has a place that he can firmly call home.  Renault were not optimistic of their chances at the start of the season, but Kubica has put together a fantastic sequence of results, always been in the points since an 11^th placed finish in the season opener in Bahrain.  His best drive was a splendid 2^nd place in Australia and in Monaco was simply awesome.  A front row grid spot and a 3^rd place finish capped one of the best individual weekends from a driver over the course of any weekend in F1 2010.  Robert is not a championship contender this year, largely because he doesn’t have the machinery this season, but he could play a significant part in the destiny of who wins the title this year.

Michael Schumacher     (Mercedes GP)                                             D+

When Michael Schumacher made his Grand Prix comeback, everyone thought that he would be able to produce the goods, as he did at Ferrari.  Nine races in and his comeback has been nothing short of disappointing.  Mercedes have not given him the equipment, and that has limited his ability when it comes to results.  However, some of his driving has been terrible, especially in Canada, when he deservedly came under-fire for some strong-arm tactics on Robert Kubica and his mentor, Felipe Massa.  Apart from 4^th placed results in Barcelona and Istanbul, there has been little to shout about on the king’s return to the sport.  Must do better, or consider walking away again. 

Jaime Alguesuari             (Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari)                     C+

The sun has shone on Jaime Alguesuari this season, and he has been one of the most pleasant surprises in 2010.  He outshone the highly-rated Sebastian Buemi in the early exchanges of the season, and produced two of the best overtaking moves of the season in Malaysia, on rookies Vitaly Petrov and Nico Hulkenberg.  Another point followed in Barcelona and had he not ran into Karun Chandok in China, points were in the offering there too.  Jaime can still be profile to the odd costly mistake and his qualifying needs to improve considerably.  Nevertheless, he is showing rapid improvement on his all-round game and well worthy of an F1 seat.

Nico Rosberg                     (Mercedes GP)                                            B+

Many felt that Nico Rosberg was going to lose this season, but in a battle with Michael Schumacher, he has largely outshone the mediocre seven-time world champion.  Podiums in Malaysia and China were the high points, but results and performance have dipped as Mercedes have lost touch with the leading pack.  Nevertheless, he is always getting the best out of his chassis every weekend, whatever that may be, and if he is doing that, then not much else can be asked of him.  A good showing so far, that might need just a bit more polishing. 

Adrian Sutil                        (Force India Mercedes)                                B-

Last year, Adrian Sutil showed his true potential and pace, but had a massive tendency to get into silly and unnecessary incidents.  This season, after a shaky opening two races, he has really got into his stride, having always qualified on the fringes of the top ten and China aside, has always been in the points since Malaysia.  He determined challenge to hold off a charging Hamilton in Sepang and winning a race-long tussle with Kubica at the Spanish Grand Prix have been the best moments.  It has been a very consistent season from Sutil and a rapid improved figure, now well respected in the paddock.

Mark Webber                   (Red Bull Racing Renault)                            B+

Leaving Shanghai, Mark Webber was under pressure.  No contract for 2011, and soundly beaten by Vettel in the first four races, he needed a change in his fortunes.  Suddenly, he hit unbeatable form, with charging victories in Barcelona and a dominant drive in Monte Carlo.  On course for a hat-trick in Istanbul, team-mate Vettel halted his momentum with the daft collision that handed McLaren a gift of a 1-2 in Turkey.  Mistakes in Melbourne and Sepang have been costly and the serious crash he walked away from in Valencia still shows the cracks, that I think may deprive him of that maiden title he craves.

Vitaly Petrov                     (Renault)                                                      C-

Petrov is the first Russian to appear in Formula One, and has shown flashes of speed and promise though produce a tendency to damage too many Renault’s.  Mistakes have blighted his season so far, with just a solitary 7^th placed finish in China to his name.  Nevertheless, he is a good foil for Kubica and with a bit more consistency; Vitaly Petrov could be here to stay in F1.

Heikki Kovalainen           (Lotus Cosworth)                                          C+

It is very difficult to grade the new teams, due to the equipment that they have at their disposal, certainly nowhere near the midfield.  Nevertheless, Heikki Kovalainen looks like a very happy bunny at Lotus and is totally committed to the cause.  He looks the one who could crack the midfield if Lotus gets their act together; Heikki Kovalainen is slowly rebuilding a shattered reputation.

Kamur Kobayashi             (Sauber Ferrari)                                         D

Kamur Kobayashi was Japan’s next best hope, and after two stirring drives for Toyota at the backend of last season, he looked like a shrewd capture by Peter Sauber.  Whatever happened to him in the winter is almost unthinkable.  Everytime you seen Kobayashi, he looks like an accident just waiting to happen.  Some qualifying performances have been great, and his drive to 7^th in Valencia showed us again what he can do.  However, you feel Kobayashi should still have a ‘DANGER’ sign on him.

Jarno Trulli                         (Lotus Cosworth)                                       F

I expected Jarno Trulli to relish the challenge of starting afresh at a new team, but how wrong was I.  He looks fed up, never smiles and looks like a frustrated, forlorn figure, realising his career is now in its latter stages.  His stupid lunge that nearly took off Karun Chandok’s head in Monaco highlights this fact.  Time to retire to the vineyard I think, epic fail!

World Cup Report - Day 13-15

The group stages have now concluded and it is time to focus on knockout football, where no mistakes are now allowed.  It was a dramatic three days of football, which saw giants embarrassed, one Asian side finally get the grip of the dead ball and others play out dire football to qualify.  Here is a round-up of the final three days of the group stages. (See England v Slovenia match report in another post)

Wednesday 23^rd June: USA 1-0 Algeria

Landon Donovan, the pin-up boy of American football scored a dramatic stoppage time winner against plucky Algeria, to send the USA off to Rustenberg in round two as Group C winners.  Whilst the Algerians focused on defending and attempting to catch the opposition on the break, the Americans threw the kitchen sink at their rivals, and it finally broke for them in the 92^nd minute, when Donovan reacted quickest from a sharp save to fire in the rebound.  Algerian captain Anther Yabdia was sent off in the dying stages for two yellow cards.

Wednesday 23^rd June: Ghana 0-1 Germany

Mesut Ozil’s stunning second-half strike set up and intriguing second round match-up between Germany and England in Bloemfortein.  His wonderful volley on the hour mark, on the edge of the penalty area was the difference in this entertaining affair at Soccer City, which sees Germany come out on top in Group D.  Ghana remain as Africa’s only participant to progress past the knockout phase.

Wednesday 23^rd June: Australia 2-1 Serbia

Australia signed off their World Cup campaign in style, with a solid 2-1 success over Serbia in Nelspruit.  Tim Cahill’s diving header on his return from suspension set the Socceroos on their way and Brett Holman quickly doubled their advantage, giving them a faint hope of overtaking Ghana for the runners-up spot in Group D.  Those hopes ended when Marko Pantellic capitalised on a spill by Mark Schwarzer to pull one back on 84 minutes.  Both teams leave the tournament at this stage.

Thursday 24^th June: Slovakia 3-2 Italy

In the game of the tournament so far, Marcelo Lippi’s holders were undone by Slovakia at Ellis Park, which saw the defending champions dethroned in the group stages.  The star of the show was Robert Vittek, who scored twice, one in either half.  In between glaring Italian defensive errors, Howard Webb ruled out a debatable Italian effort for Fabio Quagilarella doe to the offside flag, and he saw another effort brilliantly cleared off the line by Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel.  Antonio di Natale gave the Azzuri hope, quickly vanishing by a shambolic piece of slack defending from the experienced Fabio Cannavaro, which allowed Kamil Kopunek in for a goal with his first World Cup touch.  Despite arguably the goal of the tournament from Quagilarella in stoppage time, the Slovak gods held on to record a last sixteen berth on their finals debut, and Lippi’s men bottom of Group F.

Thursday 24^th June: Paraguay 0-0 New Zealand

An uneventful match in Polokwane saw Paraguay secure the point they needed for qualification, though not in convincing fashion.  Roque Santa Cruz came closest, with a stunning free-kick which was well saved by All Whites goalkeeper Mark Paston.  Rikki Herbert’s side exit the competition with their heads held high, unbeaten in the tournament.

Thursday 24^th June: Denmark 1-3 Japan

A stunning man-of-the match performance from Keisuke Honda inspired Japan into a last 16 showdown with Paraguay.  In a match at Rustenberg, which would decide the outcome of the runners-up in Group E, the Asians physical prowess and silky skill proved too much for a determined Denmark side that lacked overall firepower.  Japan led 2-0 at the break, following two stunning free-kicks from Honda and Yashuito Endo.  A dubious penalty for Denmark was converted just, by veteran Jon Dahl Tomasson in the second half, before Honda’s brilliance set-up a third goal for Shinji Okazaki, as Japan played out of their skin to get past the group stages for the first time on foreign soil.

Thursday 24^th June: Cameroon 1-2 Holland

Arjen Robben returned to the world stage after hamstring worries, and made an instant impact as Cameroon became the only side to bow out of the competition without a single point to their name.  In a game that meant nothing to the outcome of Group E, with the Indomitable Lions out and the Dutch already through, Holland led before the interval, courtesy of a lovely link-up between Rafael van der Vaart and Robin Van Persie, finished off by the Arsenal ace.  Van der Vaart blotted his copybook with a dubious handball from a free-kick, which was converted by Samuel Eto’o.  It was Robben who set-up the winner, when his shot bounced off the post and into the grasp of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who couldn’t miss from six yards.  Despite the Dutch not playing at their best, they must be a force to be reckoned with.

Friday 25^th June: Portugal 0-0 Brazil

In what was billed as one of the best games of the group stages, Portugal and Brazil played out a dire 0-0 stalemate in Durban, which saw both teams advance into the last sixteen, with the South Americans as group winners.  Brazilian striker Nilmar went the closest, with his shot tipped onto the post by Portuguese goalkeeper Eduardo in the dying stages of the first half.

Friday 25^th June: North Korea 0-3 Ivory Coast

The Ivory Coast comfortably overcame a ragged North Korea, to sign off their disappointing tournament with a winning result in Nelspruit.  Yaya Toure and Cristian Romaric scored two early goals in the first half, with the win confirmed by Salomon Kalou’s late tap-in.  However, the 9-0 scoreline they required was never on the cards, and Sven Goran-Eriksson may look on his negative tactics as the downfall for his side failing to advance out of the group stages.

Friday 25^th June: Chile 1-2 Spain

In Pretoria, Spain’s clinical finishing was just enough to see off a talented, but ill-disciplined Chile side and advance into the last sixteen, as Group H winners.  An opportunist strike from David Villa opened the scoring, following an over-committed run by Chilean captain Claudio Bravo that allowed Villa to smash into an empty net.  Andreas Iniesta doubled the lead and in the build-up, a clumsy trip on the ineffective Fernando Torres led to the soft dismissal of Marco Estrada.  Although the South Americans pulled a goal back in the second half, courtesy of Rodrigo Millar, Marcelo Bielsa’s side seemed happy to play out the match, to secure their deserved passage through into the knockout stages.

Friday 25^th June: Switzerland 0-0 Honduras

A desperately disappointing Switzerland producing an error-strewn performance against Honduras in Bloemfontein, which led to both side’s elimination from the World Cup.  Needing two goals to advance, Otmar Hitzfeld’s side never looked likely to break down a strong Central American defence, and will be disappointed not to get out of the group stages, despite their shock opening success against European champions Spain.