Puyol goes on the attack
Carles Puyol, one of the heavyweights of the Spanish National Team, attended AS with an exclusive interview. For the Barcelona defender, Spain was in a great moment: “This is our great opportunity and we have to give everything. We are close to the World Cup, but the most difficult remains. Paraguay? It would be a great mistake to think that it will be something easy… ”.
Photo:
JUAN FLOR
DAILY AS
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Iniesta puts the direct
Iniesta's total recovery, demonstrated in the match against Portugal, was more than welcome news for the National Team. The man from La Mancha had gone through an ordeal of muscle injuries that had become more pronounced at the end of the 2009-10 campaign, but after working specifically and at his own pace, less than the rest of his teammates, he was already at a high level, as demonstrated before the Portuguese.
Photo:
JUAN FLOR
DAILY AS
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Xabi Alonso, conditioned
Xabi Alonso had been booked in the match against Portugal, and for that reason he was warned about the match against Paraguay. But the Guaraní team was in the same circumstances: Santa Cruz, Vera and Riveros were in the same situation. Of course, if they passed the quarterfinal round, all the players who were in that situation would start from scratch …
Photo:
YVES HERMAN
REUTERS
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Praise to Villa
Vicente del Bosque never hesitated to praise his players. After the match against Portugal, the coach praised his striker, David Villa: “He is the best striker in the World Cup. For me there is no better striker than him. Hopefully he keeps scoring goals. That will be synonymous with the fact that we are getting more and more… ”.
Photo:
CARLOS BARRIA
REUTERS
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… And ‘El Guaje’ values Fernando Torres
For his part, it was Villa who praised Fernando Torres in a debate that had been organized between those who should be his companion at the tip of the attack, if El Niño or Fernando Llorente: “Deciding on a partner is not easy. Against Portugal the two were very good, but Fernando (for Torres) is not in poor shape. He has great character and has a great track record. We all know that his moment in the World Cup will come. Hopefully it will be against Paraguay ”.
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JUAN FLOR
DAILY AS
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Javi Martínez scare
After debuting against Chile showing a great level, Javi Martínez gave a scare before the match against Paraguay. The midfielder had to withdraw from training after suffering a strong blow to the ankle, having to pass radiological tests to determine the extent of the possible injury. For Del Bosque it was nothing serious: “It seems to be just a blow …”.
Photo:
LLUIS GENE
AFP
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Paraguay gets angry
Within days of measuring Spain in the quarterfinals, the appointment of the Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres provokes the anger and indignation of all of Paraguay. The reason is that the same referee had expelled Toro Acuña in the 2002 World Cup in a match against Germany for elbowing German Ballack.
Photo:
Gary M. Prior
Getty Images
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Martino bunkeriza to the Selection
The tension and nervousness were taking over the Guaraní concentration. Tata Martino decided to 'bunkerize' the Paraguayan team: he changed the training schedule (it was set at 3:00 p.m. and without prior notice he moved it to 12:00 p.m.). In addition, it only granted an exclusive press conference for Paraguayan journalists, vetoing the presence of foreign media.
Photo:
MORENATTI
DAILY AS
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‘El Tata’, with Tenerife's past
Gerardo Martino was an old acquaintance of Spanish soccer. The Paraguayan coach played for Tenerife during the 1990-91 campaign with Jorge Solari as coach. He arrived in the winter market, played 15 games and only scored one goal (for Sevilla at Sánchez Pizjuán). Interestingly, the coach suffered a blow during the penultimate Paraguayan training session before taking on Spain …
Photo:
MORENATTI
DAILY AS
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Enemy and acquaintance
One of Paraguay's assets was its goalkeeper Justo Villar. The goalkeeper of the Paraguayan team was also the goalkeeper of Valladolid and hoped to defeat the Spanish team. His tactic was revealing: “You have to suffocate them and they don't have the ball. Of course, we face the game with great enthusiasm and a lot of respect, but we have already shown that the big teams are good at us… ”
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JUAN MABROMATA
AFP
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Netherlands-Brazil, for the semifinals
Holland and Brazil opened the quarterfinals of the championship. The Brazilians, who had gone from less to more in the Championship, were shown as favorites before the Dutch. For the ‘oranje’ coach, Bert Van Maarwijk, one of the key was whether the Dutch team was able to “maintain its own style. Brazil has its own: very stable and very fast when it goes on the attack, causing the opponent's mistake. You have to avoid their pressure ”.
Photo:
STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN
AFP
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Dunga's problems
Dunga, the Brazilian coach, had doubts when it came to making the eleven to be measured in the Netherlands. He had to assess whether he had Felipe Melo, limping from an injury, and Julio Baptista, who had discomfort. In addition, Elano would be low until the end of the tournament when suffering an ankle bony edema. The problems were pressing for the Brazilian coach.
Photo:
FABRICE COFFRINI
AFP
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Uruguay-Ghana, past versus future
The other quarterfinal played against Uruguayans and Ghanaians. What is the same: the weight of the World Cup tradition (Uruguay had two World Champion titles) against the future of African football: a country with little football memory, but with great expectation after having reached these heights of the championship. In short: a meeting between the dynamite of Luis Suárez and Forlán against the haughtiness of Asamoah Gyan: 24 years old, and 22 goals in 41 matches with the Ghanaian team.
Photo:
GIANLUIGI GUERCIA
AFP
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Suspect Howard Webb
Once the referee who would lead Uruguay-Ghana was known, the Charruas were furious: in 1966, an English referee, James Finney was appointed to lead the Germany-Uruguay semifinals. The Uruguayans suffered expulsions and a penalty that the English referee did not grant them, and they did not want to repeat their experience, so FIFA changed the referee: the Portuguese Benquerença would whistle.
Photo:
FRANCK FIFE
AFP
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Messi alarm
Leo Messi triggered the alarms of the Argentine team when 24 hours after measuring Germany he could not train with the rest of his teammates due to an influenza process. The Argentine crack had been constipated due to the low temperatures in South Africa. However, his absence was not feared. To measure up to the Germans, Maradona had planned to line up the same eleven that he formed against Mexico, with Leo, Higuaín and Tévez forming the offensive trident.
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PATRICK HERTZOG
AFP
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Podolski and Özil, under the magnifying glass
Joachim Löw also had problems with two of his key pieces: Lukas Podolski and Mesut Özil. They had not trained with the rest of their teammates in the previous days to get in shape to the match against the Argentines. As explained by Oliver Bierhoff, a member of the technical staff, both had muscle fatigue and had been preventatively set aside to rest quietly.
Photo:
POOL
REUTERS
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