Japan v Paraguay, Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Before the tournament started, the "experts" said this would be Italy v Cameroon. Well, both of those sides finished last in their groups. Honestly, it was a very boring first 20 minutes. Finally some chances coming later in the half, but pretty much, nothing. 0.0 at halftime. Exciting early in the 2nd half, but still no goals. The last half hour was very dull. We were headed for extra time at 0.0. The extra time was very exciting, with both sides having some near misses. After 105 minutes, still no goals, and penalties looming. Nothing after 120! Penalties! Barreto, Barrios, Riveros all score no problem for Paraguay, while Endo and Hasebe keep Japan level. But Komano hit the bar. Advantage: Paraguay. Valdez scores. Honda must score....and he does. Then Cardozo then steps up to win it for Paraguay. He makes no mistake, and PARAGUAY ARE INTO THE LAST 8!!!! Final score: Japan 0(3).0(5) Paraguay
Spain v Portugal, Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
Spain started brilliantly in the crucial Round of 16 match. Torres, and Villa twice from the Spanish left side forced acrobatic saves from Eduardo. Despite Spain's dominance, they could not find a breakthrough before half. 0.0 at half. Fernando Torres was removed for Llorente, who came very close on a diving header in the 61st minute. Finally, in the 63rd minute, Spain found their breakthrough. Iniesta and Xavi used some great passing and creativity to send in Villa, who was denied by Eduardo, but put in his rebound off the underside of the bar. The 3 Barca men may have just saved Spain from another early exit. It wasn't over though. But in the 88th minute, the victory was sealed when Costa was sent off for an elbow to the face of Capdevilla. That was it, final score: Spain 1.0 Portugal
Quarter-final
Spain will take on Paraguay in the quarter-finals, and the winner advancing to face either Argentina or Germany in the semifinals.
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