Spanish Fly & Islamic Draw

'Spain could go a long way'
We saw Spain put in a wonderful performance today. Their players showed superb technical skills, excellent ball control and a lot of pace. They fully deserved the win because they made the most of their opportunities.
The game was largely settled by set-piece plays and Spain's first three goals came from dead-ball situations. There was also a deflection on the second and the third was a penalty. That's why I enjoyed the fourth so much, an absolutely excellent goal that came from open play. It would have been shame if all the goals had been scored from set-pieces.

The match took shape very early on with Spain's first two goals. The Spanish were in complete control, particularly in terms of possession and they scored almost at will. Oleg Blokhin made a few tactical changes at the break but we'll never know if they would have worked because the penalty and the sending-off came right at the start of the second half.
That gave Ukraine a huge mountain to climb, and with only ten men and playing in that heat it was well beyond them. I feel a little sorry for them to be honest, because they're obviously a much better side than such an emphatic scoreline suggests. But Spain were tremendous - all you need to do is take a look at their bench, with the likes of Raul and Cesc Fabregas and you can see them going a long way. Mind you, they always promise great things, so we'd better wait and see.

Luis ARAGONES (ESP)

There is a tremendous amount of quality in our midfield and we’re very strong physically too. The fact is we dominated as soon as we got possession, and their heads went down when we scored the second.
That said, we were a little slack at the back once or twice and could have conceded a couple of goals. I wasn’t happy with that because it’s very important to keep a clean sheet at the World Cup.
I didn’t expect such a convincing result, and I honestly thought they’d make it tougher for us. I have to say, though, we were a little lucky scoring from a corner and then a free-kick, and that hit them very hard psychologically.
We’ve got some very talented players and we’ve made an excellent start.

Oleg BLOKHIN (UKR)

I’m extremely disappointed. We weren’t disciplined at all and the players failed to follow the instructions the coaching team gave them. We’ll have to analyse our mistakes very closely and lift the players for next game. We’ll also need to rebuild the defence completely. After all, though, this is our very first World Cup finals and we need to pick up some experience.
I’m not so much disappointed about the result as the attitude of the players. It’s embarrassing for all of us and I want to apologise to the Ukraine fans for the performance we put in. We can’t play like that again. We just crumbled.
Spain played a very complete game, they were solid and fully deserved to win. Xabi Alonso also had a terrific game. Sadly, we’ve been the worst European team in the competition so far.

Tunisia 2 : 2 Saudi Arabia

With a sudden burst, Saudi Arabia was on the verge of erasing recent World Cup embarrassment. Then Tunisia spoiled the Saudi's celebrations in the final seconds Wednesday.

Rahdi Jaidi's powerful header in injury time gave Tunisia a 2-2 tie with Saudi Arabia in the only all-Arab match of the tournament. Just a few minutes earlier, in the 84th, Sami al-Jaber gave the Saudis a lead.
Al-Jaber, who retired from the national team, then was brought back for qualifying, had entered the game moments before. He has played in four World Cups and now has scored in three after finishing off a 2-on-1 break. It was his first touch of the game.
Saudi Arabia coach Marcos Paqueta had left al-Jaber on the bench because the veteran was struggling with a thigh problem. But the 34-year-old showed his class at the first opportunity.
Tunisia pressed for the tie and got it on Jaidi's header from 6 yards off a feed from the end line by Ziad Jaziri, who scored earlier.
Four years after an 8-0 humiliation against Germany in their opening game, goals from Yasser al-Qahtani and the veteran al-Jaber put the Saudis in position for a victory - and a bonus of $27,000 per player.
Then Tunisia struck for the tie. Jaidi, a hulking defender, pushed up and was unmarked in front of the middle of the goal to head in Jaziri's pinpoint pass.
Each team has one point, behind Group H favorite Spain, which routed Ukraine 4-0 earlier Wednesday.
The Tunisians took the lead in the 23rd minute, when the Saudi defense failed to clear a corner kick and Jaziri thumped the ball hard and high into the top-left corner of the Saudi net.
But Saudi Arabia slowly recovered its poise, with midfielder Nawaf al-Temyat at the center of increasingly dangerous moves.
It earned a string of free kicks and corners, and Tunisia's 40-year-old goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel, the oldest player in the tournament, had to dive sharply to hold a dangerous free kick by Redha Takar in the 37th minute.
The pressure paid off in the 57th at the end of a smooth passing move. Noor Mohammed got behind Tunisia's David Jemmali down the right side and crossed low and hard for al-Qahtani to clip the ball past Boumnijel at the near post.