World Cup - Spain 4-0 Ukraine

The two heavyweights from Group H, Spain and Ukraine came head to head in the opening match of the Group in sunny Leipzig. Spain dominated pretty much the whole match, and look like they might just have a chance this year, having underachieved greatly in the past. This emphatic 4-0 victory over the Ukraine is the biggest winning margin of the World Cup so far, and there is no denying the fact that Spain were by far the better team. However, they were also by far the luckier team, as they got many controversial decisions given in their favour.

Spain looked the better team in the first half, and they found themselves 2-0 up within 20 minutes. Their first goal came from a corner after 13 minutes. Barcelona’s Xavi drifted a well timed cross into the box, and Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso was there to get a faint touch to send it into the Ukrainian goal. There was uncertainty over the scorer, but in the end, the goal was credited to Alonso.

5 minutes later, Spain doubled their lead. This time, the goal was scored from a free kick by David Villa. The free kick, from about 30 yards out, took a deflection off the Ukrainian wall, and this was enough to send the ball away from Shovkovsky in the Ukrainian goal, who seemed unlucky to concede a goal like that.

The Ukraine pressed forward in search of a reply, but the first half belonged to the Spaniards. The Spanish midfield ran the show, and were able to cause the Ukraine defence all sorts of problems. The Ukrainians themselves played some good attacking play, but were caught offside more often than not in the first half, 6 times in total. They also seemed to have difficulty finding their star striker, Andriy Shevchenko, and he was unable to get into the game. The teams went into the half time break with the score 2-0 in favour of the Spanish.

With 3 minutes gone in the second half, one of the most controversial decisions of the match occurred. The Ukraine were reduced to 10 man with the dismissal of defender Vladimir Vashchuk, apparently for pulling the shorts of Spanish striker, Fernando Torres. The Ukraine can consider themselves extremely unfortunate with this decision, which didn’t look like a foul at all. This ‘foul’ led to the first penalty of the tournament so far. Spanish striker David Villa drilled the ball into the left corner of the net, although goalkeeper Shovkovsky dived the right way and got fingertips to the ball.

Spain generally controlled the play, and extravagantly substituted their two goal scorers in the 55th minute, and showed the quality they had on their bench by bringing on experienced striker Raul and Midfielder David Albelda.

The Ukraine’s chances of the second half were few and far between, and they had difficulty responding to their excellent opponents. Their closest attempt in the second half fell to Andriy Voronin. His shot from around the corner of the Spanish penalty area dipped just wide of the Spanish left hand post.

The ball ended up in the Ukrainian goal for the fourth time in the match in the 64th minute. Marcos Senna smashed the ball into the Ukrainian net from outside the area. However, the whistle had already gone for a foul on a Ukrainian defender, so the goal was disallowed, which was the first key decision that went in favour of the Ukrainians.

The Spaniards made up for this in the 80th minute with an absolutely breathtaking attacking move, finished by Fernando Torres. The build up play was fantastic, with experienced centre back, Carles Puyol bursting forward before showing great skill to turn and get past a Ukrainian player. He played the ball to Arsenal‘s Cesc Fabregas, and the move almost broke down. However, Fabregas just about managed to keep the ball, before knocking it back to Puyol, who headed the ball into the path of the onrushing Fernando Torres who volleyed in a vicious shot from the edge of the penalty area. This absolutely breathtaking goal showed just how good the Spaniards can be, and made viewers wonder just how they have managed to underachieve for so many years.

However, in the 89th minute they almost gifted the Ukraine a goal. Spanish keeper Iker Casillas, who had a very little to do in the match, raced miles out of his area in an attempt to control the ball with his chest. However this backfired and the ball fell to Andriy Voronin. He should’ve tried a long range effort into the open goal, but instead ran forward and kept the ball for too long, and eventually in was put out of play for a corner.

The final whistle eventually came, which signalled the end of a thrilling 90 minutes of football. Spain were unbelievably good, and you got the feeling that perhaps, this could be their year. They were very lucky to get a few important decisions go their way, but there is no denying that they deserved the win. Spain will face Tunisia and Saudi Arabia in their remaining two Group H games, and are now almost certain to progress to the knockout rounds, particularly if they put in more performances like the one today. The Ukraine can count themselves unlucky for conceding a penalty and having a player sent off, but were simply outplayed for most of the game. They still have a very good chance of qualifying from their Group, if they can get some good results against Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. All in all, a highly entertaining match for the fans, and one of the best so far in this years World Cup.

Spain 4-0 Ukraine

Xabi Alonso 13
Villa 18, pen 48
Torres 80