Spain Start Their World Cup 2010 Campaign, Coach Says Torres And Iniesta Fit To Face Swiss

FIFA World Cup's favourites Spain finally begin their World Cup 2010 campaign with

an easy-looking(may be not) match against Switzerland on Wednesday 16 June 2010. The local Bafana Bafana (Boys) team face a stubborn Uruguay in their second Group A match, but are on a 13-match unbeaten run and brimming with confidence after a spectacular first goal in their draw with Mexico that opened the tournament.

"Our goal is to get into the knockout round," said defender Bongani Khumalo. Reaching the second stage would indeed be a triumph for South Africa who fear the ignominy of being the only World Cup hosts in history to go out at the first hurdle.

My World Cup Blog

From Cape Town's spectacular Table Mountain to Johannesburg's famous Soweto township, the nation will again come to a halt to back Bafana Bafana with noise and passion.

"We want to hear those vuvuzelas!" said South Africa's Brazilian manager Carlos Alberto Parreira, relieved FIFA has rejected pleas to ban the ubiquitous noisy plastic trumpet.

SPAIN'S LONG WAIT

While South Africa would be happy just to reach the next round, nothing short of lifting the cup would satisfy Spain.

They have an extraordinarily talented side and even if striker Fernando Torres and midfielder Andres Iniesta miss out due to fitness doubts, they should be able to brush aside unfancied Switzerland in the Group H clash in Durban.

Marginally bookies' favourite ahead of Brazil, the Spanish are painfully aware that past great sides have flopped at the World Cup but hope their Euro 2008 win will be a good omen.

Brazil's Samba Boys made their first appearance in the tournament on Tuesday night, struggling at first to break down the ultra-defensive North Koreans but then notching two goals with moments of flair from Maicon and Elano in the second half.

The North Koreans, who went on a famous run to the quarter-finals in England in 1966, scored at the end in a highly creditable 2-1 defeat to the five-time world champions.

Goals have not exactly been flowing in South Africa.

The net has bulged 23 times in the first 14 games, a relatively low average of 1.64 goals per match and below the 2.30 at Germany 2006.

Prolific marksmen Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba were unable to hit the net in Portugal's 0-0 draw with Ivory Coast, also on Tuesday. Fellow outsiders New Zealand and Slovakia managed a goal each, however, in a 1-1 draw that gave both nations their first ever World Cup point.

EMPTY SEATS

Chile and Honduras will have the first chance to up the tournament's goal tally in Wednesday's opening game of Group H at Nelspruit.

Chile are playing on the 48th anniversary of their last World Cup victory when they beat Yugoslavia in the third-place playoff while hosting the 1962 tournament.

Since then, they have not won a single game in 13 matches over four more World Cups. But Chile defender Gonzalo Jara said minds were not focussed on history.

"Getting the three points and playing like we want to play that's the important thing," he said.

As well as the lack of high-scoring games, empty seats have been a disappointing feature of the World Cup.

World soccer's governing body says, however, that attendance levels are the second highest in World Cup history behind the United States in 1994, and blame ticket-holders who have not turned up for leaving seats empty.

There was an horrific twist to the World Cup in Somalia where Islamist militants killed two people and arrested dozens more for breaking a ban on watching games on TV.

Most Somalis love football, but the Hizbul Islam group, which follows a strict interpretation of Islami, were unforgiving against spectators in Afgoi district.

Striker Fernando Torres and influential attacking midfielder Andres Iniesta are fit to play against Switzerland in Spain's opening World Cup match, coach Vicente Del Bosque said on Tuesday.

However, Iniesta and Torres, whose goal secured Spain's Euro 2004 triumph, still might not feature in the starting line-up for the tournament favourites' Group H match on Wednesday having struggled to overcome recent injuries.

Barcelona's Iniesta, who had a thigh strain, took full part in training both on Monday and Tuesday and had a "good feeling," team doctor Oscar Celada told the soccer federation's website (www.rfef.es).

"We still have some hours to talk with him and the doctors before making a decision," Del Bosque added at a news conference at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

"We are thinking about tomorrow but also about the fact that could progress further in the competition.

"If he doesn't make it, we have so many possibilities, Torres and Pedro (Rodriguez) ... we have 23 players who are in perfect condition to play," he added.

While many expect Spain not just to progress further in the tournament but to win it, Del Bosque said his players were sufficiently grounded not get carried away.

"We get a huge amount of optimism from outside, and we're already playing the final according to the fans," he added.

"I believe we have players who know what football is about. We are not in the fantasy world of the fans, we are in reality.

"Football is very tight, there is little difference between teams, and if you want to be successful, you must face these challenges with the necessary modesty."

That modesty demands respect for your opponents and Del Bosque thinks Ottmar Hitzfeld's Switzerland team, even without their injured captain and leading goalscorer Alex Frei, deserve nothing less.

"They are well-organised," the former Real Madrid boss said. "They have an excellent coach with an excellent record."

As well as avoiding the complacency that might derive from being favourites, Del Bosque said he thought his players would not be labouring under the weight of expectation either.

"I don't think we're under pressure but we feel a responsibility," he said.

"We believe we are privileged to compete here and I believe it is necessary for us to do the best possible work. It is good to feel this sense of responsibility but it will not stop us from playing our game."

The 60-year-old coach said he himself was not nervous on the eve of his first World Cup match in charge.

"I'm being quite frank, I'm at peace," he said.

For Live World Cup 2010

by: Regme bd

POST COMMENT

How To Enjoy Spain Endlessly Finding Cheap Places To Live In Spain Custom Regulations In Spain Gateway to Spain - Barcelona Places of interest in Spain – COSTA VASCA PLACES IN SPAIN: BURGOS Places of Interest in Spain RIAS BAIXAS Spain- Soria Spain and the Colonization of America Mezquita Awe-inspiring Place In Cordoba, Spain Places Of Interest In Spain Algorfa Places Of Interest In Spain Navarre Places Of Interest In Spain - Zeniamar