Spain V Australia World Cup 2014

Spain V Australia Fifa World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

Beers: Group B of Beer World Cup: http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-group-b/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? VB Beer V San Miguel. Who will quench the thirst, set the mood, get me in the right spirit? Click on picture for a preview of the beers.

Get the beer result after, much after!

San Miguel V Victoria Bitter: 0-2 Comfortable win in the end for VB. As nice as San Miguel is and all its no match for a strong VB in the hand, especially when there is sports on the tele! VB’s aftertaste is delicious and wins out. San Miguel is a fine beer, but I am not in Spain and the weather is not so hot and so the mood doesn’t fit. San Miguel is a lovely golden clear lager that goes down smooth and has a nice soft aftertaste, but up against a strong rival like VB it’s no match. VB with its golden pour and sweet malt aroma wins it with its bitter unique aftertaste. Click on links below for full beer information and reviews.

PreGame:

Spain: Even though this is a dead rubber tie it still remains a fascinating game to review. Will Vicente del Bosque completely change the team for this last game, or give the old guard one last chance to play World Cup football? As a huge fan of Cecs Fábregas and Cazorla, I am hoping he at least plays these two. But he could just as easily, give Diego Costa some game time to get his shooting boots on. It would be more than fair for the man to have a chance to restore some if his lost reputation in this last game. Might even get a shot on target today!

I think Spain might want to prove something in this game. prove that they can still win, and win well. I am sure they will try their damnest to win this match handsomely, trying to notch up a few goals, and get some pride back in the national team

Australia: If Spain disappointed then Australia have done the opposite. They have shown some good football in this tournament and their future looks very bright.They played well against the Netherlands and asked some serious questions about their defence, getting behind the Dutch back four on numerous ocassions, scoring twice.

Cahills’ goals was what every kid dreams of. A beautiful volley top corner, brilliant. Reminded me of the great vans Basten all those years ago. But he wont be playing today as he picked up another yellow card, so he is suspended for the match this evening. That’s a massive loss, and I cant see the Aussies doing much without him up front. It will be tough to beat the (soon to be former) World Champions, but what a story of they did!

A more detailed review on Spain here and on Australia here

This game highlighted the complete balls up that Vicente del Bosque made with the Spanish selection policy at this years World Cup. Seven changes were made for this final game in which Spain won out easily enough in the end. Now I know it was a dead rubber of a game but still questions should be taken from it.

David Villa, the man who has scored seven of Spain’s last 11 goals at the World Cup, and who powered Spain into the final of the last competition, was on the bench for the first two games. While del Bosque persisted with Costa who finished the World Cup without ONE shot on target. Villa looked very lively when he came on and, sure enough, he scored a lovely back heal to score his ninth goal in a World Cup. He will be missed and what a player he was, scoring 59 times for his country and generally playing the game in the right spirit. You don’t leave World Class players on the bench Vicente, ever!

Fernando Torres scored Spain’s second, and Fabregas played a lovely pass to get Mata into score the third. Fabregas and Mata, more players criminally underused in this campaign by del Bosque.

Australia had made a very positive start to the game, and had Spain under the cosh for the first twenty minutes or so, but once Spain scored they dropped their heads and the rest of the match was played out in a very slow tempo.

Spain can regroup after this World Cup, knowing that they have to try and get a better forward than Costa in action if they want to be a top force again. For Australia the future is very bright. Although they lost this game by three goals, their overall World Cup adventure was positive. They have a young squad who would have gained a huge amount from their time in Brazil. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing them back in four years time to see how much further they have progressed.

Music to get you in the mood

Kylie Minogue V Pignoise