Spanish Estrada: Chile 1-2 Spain 25/6/10

Chile line-up: Bravo (c), Ponce, Isla, Snachez (Orellana, 65'), Vidal, Valdivia (Millar, HT), Gonzalez (Paredes, HT), Estrada, Beausejour, Medel, Jara
Spain line-up: Casillas (c), Pique, Puyol, Iniesta, Villa, Xavi, Torres (Fabregas, 55'), Capdevila, Alonso (Martinez, 73'), Ramos, Busquets

With these two Latino teams in contention to not just progress but to also win the group it looked to be a very attacking game with a lot of flair. But it began in a somewhat surprise fashion; Chile were on top for most of the first half with Alexis Sanchez very skillful and dangerous. Meanwhile Andres Iniesta made sure everyone was aware of his comeback with a brilliant performance in midfield. The first chance actually fell for Liverpool's Torres but he looked unhappy all game and duly missed his opportunity. Ex-Liverpool player Mark Gonzalez had an even better chance at the other end but also failed to hit the target. For the first twenty minutes Chile dominated possession and Spain were just looking to catch them on the break with Beausejour also impressing for the Chileans. But just under 25 minutes into the match Spain took a surprise lead with a goal out of the blue; Torres was chasing a loose ball twenty five yards from goal and for some unknown reason goalkeeper Bravo came rushing out to tackle Torres, the ball trickled to David Villa who curled his shot into the empty net for his tenth goal in international competitions. This was a huge blow for Chile but they still looked the better team until ten minutes before half time Spain struck the hammer blow, a beautifully crafted move started by Alonso who then fed David Villa who squared the ball back for Iniesta who planted the ball into the bottom corner. Worse was to follow for Chile as during that swift move Estrada looked to have inadvertently tripped Torres on the edge of the box as their paths crossed, however the referee deemed it deliberate and gave Estrada his second yellow card and thus sent him off.

Chile's coach Bielsa looked to shuffle his pack at half-time with a double substitution and ten man Chile were back in the game two minutes after the restart. One of the substitutes Rodrigo Millar struck the shot which deflected off Pique's back and looped over Casillas to make it 2-1. But unfortunately for Chile their man disadvantage seemed to affect them as they were unable to cut Spain open and produce decent chances, only a few half-chances which Paredes failed to connect with. Spain made sure they bossed the tempo of the game and just dominated possession from there on in and Villa should have put the game beyond Chile but he somehow messed the chances up and Spain went through with the 2-1 win and face their Iberian counterparts Portugal in a tasty looking 2nd round match. As for Chile, Switzerland's inability to win against Honduras secured a place in the 2nd round for the Chileans with an even tastier all South American tie with Brazil.