In the Round of 16 of the 2010 World Cup, Spain’s 1-0 win over Portugal appears to have been a rehearsal for the quarterfinal match against Paraguay. Spain was able to be creative and resourceful in getting the win and Portugal’s primary focus was defense. Paraguay will also be defense-minded, having made it this far in the tournament by way of their tough defense

Spain is trying to become the first team to win the World Cup after having lost their first match to World Cup odds favorite, Switzerland. To win the group and appear to be back on track, they played well enough during the rest of group play. Spain’s midfield that includes Xavi, Xabi Alonso, and Sergio Busquets is arguably the best in the tournament. Including their lone goal against Portugal, up front, striker David Villa has scored a tournament-best four goals.

For the first time in history, Paraguay is qualifying for the quarterfinals. By winning Group F and after defeating Japan on penalty kicks in their Round of 16 match, they have made it this far. Their defense has carried them in each game, having only given up one game in the four games they have played.

On the Spaniards, will be all the pressure. They were pegged as the favorites to win the World Cup and they have played well enough in recent games to be worthy of that designation, as the reigning Euro 2008 champs. They proved against Portugal that they can penetrate nine-man defenses and they will be favored against Paraguay.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 at 2:13 am and is filed under Soccer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.