Saturday 15 March 2014

Paraguay v Spain: as it happened

See how the World Cup 2010 quarter-final game between Paraguay and Spain in Johannesburg unfolded, minute by minute.

Nelson Valdez reacts after seeing his goal disallowed
Disbelief: Paraguay's Nelson Valdez sees his first-half goal disallowed Photo: GETTY IMAGES

WRAP: Where to start with that second half? Three penalties, two missed, the other one scrubbed off. One goal, that hit the post three times on the way in. Was that Spain's little bit of luck? They'll need a lot more where that came from if they play like that against Germany. Credit to Paraguay - they gave it everything, and will look at that missed penalty as their missed chance to pull off a famous victory. But we have our final four! Uruguay, Holland, Germany, Spain. Who's your money on? You've got three days to make your mind up... Mike will be back with Uruguay v Holland on Tuesday, and I'll be taking you through Spain v Germany on Wednesday. Try and contain yourselves until then. See you soon.

Paraguay v Spain: live
Viva Espana: Spain have not progressed beyond the quarter-finals for 60 years

21.22 Ecstatic celebrations by the Spanish players. The Paraguayans are consoling each other. Spain will go on to play Germany in the semi-final on Wednesday, and that's going to be proper bo.

FULL TIME Spain 1-0 Paraguay Spain make history! But they didn't half stink the place out while doing it...

90+3 min Nothing doing for Paraguay. It's not going to happen for them.

90+2 min Ramos bandaged up and fine. We'll have maybe an extra minute for that. Spain run the ball into the corner with Pedro.

90+1 min Ramos still down, and it did look like a nasty blow from Santana, who's possibly lucky not to pick up a second booking.

90 min What a second half it's been. Three minutes of injury time as Paraguay surge forward. Ramos is caught by a high foot from Santana.

88 min And Casillas has saved Spain! Paraguay break with Barrios, who shoots first time! Casillas spills it, but saves the follow-up from Santa Cruz heroically by diving at his feet! And then Villa should score at the other end! That's saved!

87 min Yellow card now for Santana for jumping with arms. Busquets the man collapsing to the ground as if he'd just been slapped by his mother.

85 min Much more space for Spain now, but paradoxically they're not as interested in doing much with the ball. Make no mistake, this has been a close, close shave for them. They'll have to raise their level if they're going to beat Germany. Never mind that, they'll have to raise their level if they're going to manage to locate the team bus after the game.

83 min Substitution for Paraguay: Barrios for Caceres. And one for Spain: Marchena for Puyol. Now, what have Paraguay got left? This would be so cruel on them. Villa tries to curl it in from range, but over.

81 min GOAL Spain 1-0 Paraguay (Villa) There it is! Finally! Villa with his fifth goal of the World Cup, off the post! Great play by Iniesta, who shakes off two Paraguayans and moves it right for Pedro. His shot hits the post and comes out to Villa, who fires in a rebound a la Portugal. This one almost stayed out too, though, hitting the post, trundling along the goal-line, and in.

80 min The most disappointing thing about Spain tonight is that they haven't even threatened. If I were a Paraguay fan, you could count the number of times I'd have thought 'Uh-oh' on the fingers of one hand. With a couple lopped off.

78 min Jonathan Pearce says Barcelona are looking to sign Mesut Ozil. OK, this is getting ridiculous now. Shall we just start calling the Barcelona v Real Madrid match what it is, which is Battle For Mastery Of The Planet?

77 min A tiring Paraguay are just dropping back a little. They, like everyone, are sensing a good old Spanish siege in the last 12 minutes.

76 min Xavi plays the ball out left for Pedro, but Pedro slips and the ball runs out of play. It's been that kind of night for Spain.

75 min Cardoso through, but the ball gets caught under his feet! Spain scramble it away. This could really go either way.

74 min Snap shot from Xavi! It whistles wide. Off comes Xabi Alonso, and here comes Pedro.

73 min Just two minutes and three seconds in between the two penalties. And that includes all the faff that follows: the referee waving away the appeals, the penalty taker trying to locate the ball, the referee ordering everyone out of the area, the penalty being taken, the ball going up the other end and another penalty being given. Iniesta with a corner, which Villar palms out of danger.

71 min Xavi takes the free-kick from the left, and Villar just directs it behind with fingertips. He gets away with it, the referee's given a goal kick. And Valdez makes way for Roque Santa Cruz.

70 min Capdevila crosses for Spain. Heroic header by Veron. And now Valdez fouls Busquets. Morel booked for preventing Xavi from taking it quickly.

68 min A semblance of normality has now descended again, but the equation is unchanged for Spain - they have 20 minutes and change to avoid extra time. Iniesta fires the ball over from 20 yards, and should have done better.

67 min Oh, imagine that, though. I think there has to be a point at which someone says: "Regardless of the rules of the game, this is just getting silly. Won't someone please think of the live bloggers?"

From Ian Chadband: "Referee bottled it. Fabregas brought down by keeper; clear third penalty"

65 min "Bloody choke artists!" exclaims Kieran McEleney. Now, a replay of Paraguay's missed penalty, and Casillas was two yards off his line, and the Spain players were encroaching so far they could practically have rugby tackled Barreta. Morally, I'm going to call that whole affair neutral.

63 min And Iniesta with a wonderful curling shot that Villar has to parry! Shades of Stekelenburg's awesome effort yesterday. Just seeing replays of the second Spain penalty appeal, and it was a stonewaller on Fabregas. We'll being seeing that again, I'll bet. Meanwhile, Paraguay bring on Vera for Barreto. Caceres and Busquets both booked for having a chip at the referee in the midst of all that.

61 min MISSED PENALTY (Spain) Alonso puts it low to the right! Villar blocked it, and in the melee that ensued, Spain wanted another penalty! They're incensed that they didn't get it, and doubly because Alcaraz was merely booked despite being the last man...

60 min GOAL No, he has to take it again! Alonso scored, but Spain were encroaching! Drama!

59 min PENALTY TO SPAIN Alcaraz brings down Villa as he runs clear! No hesitation by Carlos Batres!

58 min MISSED PENALTY (Paraguay) It stays 0-0! It''s saved by Casillas, who went the right way! He even held onto it. Cardoso shot left-footed, but at a comfortable height for Casillas. What a let-off! What a turning-point that could be!

57 min PENALTY TO PARAGUAY Cardoso goes down! Pique simply hauled him to the floor! Yellow card for Pique. Cardoso himself to take... What a moment!

56 min Now, corner Paraguay. This was how they scored against Italy. Taken by Barreto... and...

55 min Off comes Fernando Torres, who's had another appalling game. Fabregas, it looks, will slot in on the left, with Villa coming in from the right.

54 min And another misplaced pass by Alonso. At what point did Spain forget how to pass a football? This is astonishing. Cesc is stripped and ready to run. Del Bosque having a word in his ear.

53 min Free-kick from the left. Alonso to swing it in from 45 yards, and that hits the one-man wall. That's unforgivably poor. And there were two men in offside positions.

50 min Some promising signs for Spain, but still lacking that final ball. Alonso reduced to playing a long ball for Iniesta, which flies out of play.

48 min Germany will have been licking their lips watching that Spain performance in the first half. How long until we see Fabregas?

46 min It's as you were for both sides, but Spain look to have an added piquancy to their play. But Caceres almost slips it through to Valdez. It goes through to Casillas.

From Ian Chadband: "Spain's worst performance of the tournament so far. At least against Switzerland, they were creating plenty of chances. Cesc must be itching"

20.32 And off we go again.

20.31 Finally, some reaction from Diego Maradona, after reports that he was about to miss the press conference after Argentina's 4-0 defeat to Germany "because he was crying". This is what he says: "I am 50 in October and mature and it is the toughest day of my life. This is like a kick in the face. This was a punch from Muhammad Ali. I have no more energy for anything."

20.20 Who's the happier manager at half-time? Well, Gerardo Martino, you'd say. They've managed to hold the European champions for 45 minutes, keeping the most talented players in the world at bay. No, no, I respond, it's Vicente Del Bosque. The best chances of the half have all been Paraguay's. Spain have played like a really, really bad football team and the way things were going out there they were looking like getting sucker-punched. Better get them in, kick some behinds and change things around. We may well see a different Spain in the second half. If not, don't bet against them going out.

HALF TIME: Paraguay 0-0 Spain

45 min Valdez! Best chance of the half, and it's gone to Paraguay! Valdez is allowed to run, last man Puyol doesn't dare to tackle him and Valdez's shot is sliced wide instead of curling in. And voila, half-time. Awful half of football.

44 min Just the one shot on goal so far. It was Paraguay's. I suppose that's what you call an anti-climax. Stands to reason, really. At every World Cup, there's one - and only one - really boring quarter-final. Last time it was England's.

42 min All technical gremlins have now been sorted, I believe. And look, you didn't miss any of the game. When will it start?

40 min GOAL DISALLOWED (Paraguay) Was Valdez offside? Was Cardoso offside? It was Cardoso, as the ball was delivered from the right. It was Valdez who put it in, but Cardoso also went for it. Does that make him active? Answers on the back of a Fifa rulebook.

38 min Xavi's delivery is cleared. They haven't had a clear-cut opening so far, have Spain. Will it be Portugal all over again? Or will it be Switzerland all over again?

37 min Ramos with another run down the right. He can't find Torres, though, and it's Spain's third corner of the game.

From Henry Winter: "Spain pressure may tell but Paraguay's defending is incredibly organised and obdurate"

35 min Villa shoots from distance, but it's well wide.

34 min Again, Paraguay go close! A wickedly-swinging cross from the left from Morel just eludes the head of Santana, who was again being marked by nobody.

33 min Now, Villa in space. Finds Iniesta on the right, who crosses first-time for Torres, but Paraguay clear. Spain are getting closer, you feel.

32 min Free-kick, Spain. On the right but within shooting range. Capdevila's going to strike it, I think... and it's deflected through to Villar.

30 min "Why do we want to stop the Germans?" asks Roland Bell. "Doesn’t make England look so bad if they thrash everyone else too... and they’re a European team." Ah, that whole 'European soildarity' thing. Is there even any point playing Euro 2012 if we're all one? "And now, the winners of Euro 2012: everyone!" We'd still celebrate, obviously.

28 min Xavi, from range! And it's just over. Spain getting into their stride here. Now, a free-kick on the right as Ramos is fouls. It doesn't even beat - what's the man in front of the first man? Poor from Busquets.

26 min Apologies - we've had a couple of problems with the auto refresh and the score at the top. Should be sorted now, though - ironically, though, you'll just need to give it a manual refresh.

25 min Delightful from Villa, dancing down the left and making Veron look like his fatter namesake. His cross is cleared for a corner. Spain upping the ante here.

23 min First test for Torres! But Morel runs him off the ball. E-mail from Kyle Selby, who I swear I've never spoken to in my life. Nevertheless: "Was it yourself I was talking to a week ago about South Americans v Europeans? I just wanted to say I was right and the South Americans had bottled it! Your comments on them being the big driving force of this competition just make me laugh as it is the same view as the fickle fans who think the best team in the opening games will win the competition... STUPID!"

20 min Oh, Alcaraz! Absolutely nobody anywhere near him. It was a long, long free-kick swung in from the right touchline, almost on the halfway line. Morel took it, I think. If Alcaraz had been three inches taller, he'd have been able to nod that in without a thought. Instead, it sails agonisingly beyond him.

19 min Alcaraz takes Iniesta's feet from under him, and is lucky to escape without a card. Spain take the free-kick quickly... to nobody. Bit of a waste, that.

17 min Villa's getting a lot of attention. As soon as he gets the ball three men set about him like airport security staff on a man who's just set off the alarm.

16 min Villa sprays a delicious ball out right for Ramos, who loops a cross in for Torres. Goalkeeper Villar comes and punches, but that's as promising as it's looked so far for Spain.

14 min Not a classic so far, but then Spain games rarely are. Either the other side tries to stop them playing, or both teams try to stop each other playing. Also, it does take Spain about 15 minutes to put a move together.

13 min Again, good approach play by Spain, but they just can't make progress. Alonso gives it away ultimately. Paraguay are lining up in numbers and forming a human wall.

11 min Now Valdez runs down the left. Ramos does well to dispossess him, but still Spain have to be a bit cute to get it out of their own corner.

10 min Now, a free-kick for Paraguay and Morel. Forty yards out, perhaps? And it goes up, up and over. Pfffft.

8 min And Riveros was absolutely unmarked in the area! He tries to glance a header in, but over. Nice start by Paraguay.

7 min Oooh, dodgy by Casillas! Tried to take a week over a clearance and was closed down by Valdez, who slid in and managed to get a touch on it. It goes behind, but could have gone anywhere.

6 min First corner to Spain. Xavi pulls it back to Alonso who crosses for Ramos. It flicks Da Silva on its way out, but a goal-kick is given.

5 min Now, Spain try and build. But Paraguay are pressing them hard in the centre, forcing them back or to the sides. And seeing as most Spanish footballers would rather put HP sauce on their paella than pass it out wide, it's not going very far.

3 min Spain look like they're playing on Nytol. Dreamy passing, but next to Paraguay's electricity they look a touch ponderous...

2 min According to Ed McFarlane, there are no words in the Spanish national anthem. "Too complicated to translate and agree." On a separate note: "If Uruguay make it to the final, will they allow Montevideo evidence?" Ouf. Nobody wants to see that.

1 min And the first shot for Paraguay! Spain napping as Cardoso is allowed to turn and run and slip in Santana, who takes a step to the side before shooting low. Casillas gets down to smother it.

19.30 Paraguay in red and white stripes. Spain in dark blue. We're away!

19.29 Surely we can't have another shock in this World Cup? Surely? I mean, we couldn't possibly see Fernando Torres scoring tonight, will we?

From Ian Chadband: "Torres time - fancy El Nino will blow in with his first goal(s) of the tournament tonight"

19.26 Most of the Paraguayan players try to sing along with their anthem, but they seemed to be playing it a little too quickly for them to keep up. The Spanish anthem is, as ever, very nice.

19.24 The teams are out. Before the anthems, though, we're going to have the now-tiresome anti-discrimination orations. We all deplore racism, for God's sake. One saving grace - at least we didn't have to listen to Steven Gerrard delivering that sermon. It would have been like getting a lecture on pacifism from... well, Steven Gerrard.

19.20 Some news in: Luis Suarez - he of the 'Hand of Cheating Sod' moment - has received a one-match ban for his red card against Ghana, meaning he'll be able to play in the third-place play-off.

19.19 Looks like Paraguay have set their stall out to park the camion. It wouldn't surprise me to see their side walking out with a couple of sheets of MDF to board up their goal.

19.14 Spain are unchanged. Paraguay, it's fair to say, are not. There are an astonishing six changes from the side that started against Japan. Strikers Roque Santa Cruz, Edgar Benitez and Lucas Barrios are all despatched to the bench; Nelson Valdez and Oscar Cardozo come in as coach Gerardo Martino switches from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2, the favoured formation of World Cup failures. Carlos Bonet, Enrique Vera and Nestor Ortigozo are also ditched, with Dario Veron, Victor Caceres, Edgar Barreto and Jonathan Santana all coming in.

19.05 Evening, all. The South American World Cup? Don't make me laugh. First Brazil, now Argentina. It's down to the cloven yeomen of Paraguay to keep the Latin American barbecue burning after Germany's fearsome blitzkrieg this afternoon. Tonight, though, they face the toughest test there is - Spain, primed and hungry. It's been - and you're barely going to believe this - 60 years since Spain went beyond this stage. We've got the teams in below, and if you're at all in the mood, you should drop us an e-mail at the above address.


Actual Football Preview Stuff

Paraguay (4-4-2): Villar (capt); Veron, Alcaraz, Da Silva, Morel; Riveros, Caceres V, Barreto, Santana; Valdez, Cardozo.

Spain: (4-4-2): Casillas (capt); Ramos, Puyol, Pique, Capdevila; Xavi, Busquets, Alonso, Iniesta; Villa, Torres.

Referee: Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal).

Previous Meetings

Played: 3 Paraguay 0 wins, Draws 2, Spain 1 win
1998: (St-Etienne, WC): Spain 0 Paraguay 0
2001: (Logrono, Friendly): Spain 0 Paraguay 0
2002: (Jeonju, WC): Spain 3 Paraguay 1

Fact: Spain are in the quarter-finals for the fourth time since 1986, reaching the last eight in alternate years. But they have failed to progress further.


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