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World Cup Quarterfinal Match Report: Spain vs Paraguay

Spain 1, Paraguay 0

Spain: Villa, 83

Spain Starting Line-up: (4-2-1-3)

1-Iker Casillas;
15-Sergio Ramos, 3-Gerard Pique, 5-Carles Puyol, 11-Joan Capdevila;
14-Xabi Alonso, 16-Sergio Busquets;
8-Xavi;
6-Andres Iniesta, 9-Fernando Torres, 7-David Villa.

Paraguay Starting Line-up: (4-4-1-1)

1-Justo Villar;
2-Dario Veron, 14-Paulo Da Silva, 21-Antolin Alcaraz, 3-Claudio Morel;
8-Edgar Barreto, 11-Jonathan Santana, 15-Victor Caceres, 16-Cristian Riveros;
18-Nelson Valdez;
7-Oscar Cardozo.

Referee: Carlos Batres (Guatemala).

Earlier on Saturday afternoon, Germany sent a devastating warning for
the remaining contenders with a scintillating 4-0 demolition of
Argentina. However, Spain and Paraguay had no time to contemplate that event.
They had to advance far enough to …

Netherlands 2, Brazil 1

Netherlands:
1- Maarten Stekelenburg; 2- Gregory van der Wiel, 3- John Heitinga, 4- Joris Mathijsen, 5- Giovanni van Bronckhorst; 7- Dirk Kuyt,
6- Mark van Bommel, 10- Wesley Sneijder, 8- Nigel de Jong, 11- Arjen Robben; 9- Robin van Persie.
Brazil:
1- Julio Cesar; 2- Maicon, 3- Lucio, 4- Juan, 6- Michel Bastos, 5- Felipe Melo, 8-Gilberto Silva, 13- Dani Alves, 10- Kaka, 11- Robinho, 9- Luis Fabiano.
Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan).
This, the first of four World Cup quarter-finals, saw the No. 1-ranked gods of international football, Brazil, take on perennial underachievers, …

Uruguay advance to the semi-finals 4-2 on penalties.

Uruguay Starting Line-up: (4-3-3)

1-Fernando Muslera;
2-Diego Lugano, 6-Mauricio Victorino, 4-Jorge Fucile, 16-Maximiliano Pereira;
15-Diego Perez, 17-Egidio Arevalo, 20-Alvaro Fernandez;
7-Edinson Cavani, 9-Luis Suarez, 10-Diego Forlan.

Ghana Starting Line-up (4-2-3-1)

22-Richard Kingson;
4-John Pantsil, 5-John Mensah, 15-Isaac Vorsah, 2-Hans Sarpei;
6-Anthony Annan, 7-Samuel Inkoom;
23-Kevin-Prince Boateng, 11-Sulley Muntari, 21-Kwadwo Asamoah;
3-Asamoah Gyan.

Referee: Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal).

On Friday afternoon, we witnessed an a startling collapse by Brazil
against the Netherlands in the second half. After all the drama of the
Netherlands/Brazil match, we would be forgiven for fearing that
Uruguay versus Ghana would be a letdown. However, …

Spain 1, Portugal 0
Spain: 1- Iker Casillas; 15- Sergio Ramos, 3- Gerard Pique, 5- Carles Puyol, 11- Joan Capdevila; 14- Xabi Alonso, 8- Xavi, 6- Andres Iniesta, 16- Sergio Busquets; 9- Fernando Torres, 7- David Villa

Portugal: 1- Eduardo; 2- Bruno Alves, 21- Ricardo Costa, 6- Ricardo Carvalho, 23- Fabio Coentrao, 16- Raul Meireles, 15- Pepe, 19- Tiago, 7- Cristiano Ronaldo, 11- Simao Sabrosa, 18- Hugo Almeida
Referee: Hector Baldassi (Argentina)
Rivalry, by its very nature, is a fiercely passionate beast. In international football, we …

Japan 0, Paraguay 0. – Paraguay advance to the quarter-finals, 5-3, on a
penalty shout-out after regular and extra-time ended 0-0.

Paraguay Starting Lineup:

Villar, Bonet, Da Silva, Alcaraz, Morel Rodriguez, Vera, Ortigoza, Riveros,
Santa Cruz, Barrios, Benitez.

Japan Starting Lineup:

Kawashima, Komano, Nakazawa, Tanaka, Nagatomo, Matsui,
Abe, Endo, Hasebe, Honda, Okubo.

Referee: Frank de Bleecker.

Paraguay topped Group F with a solitary win over Slovakia and two
draws with flailing world champions Italy and New Zealand. While their
performances did not leave fans licking their hands and salivating in
awe, they did well to emerge unbeaten from their group. While their
draw …