Spain-Chile began as wide open as promised, and in the early-going, it was Chile who looked looser and bolder. Fernando Torres continued his tentative play, and even Iker Casillas made some basic miscues in the opening 20 minutes. Then everything changed, thanks mostly to one guy. This guy. You know you want me. Boy, David Villa's worth every penny Barcelona spent on him, isn't he? Keeper or no, being able to lash a ball into the net from like 50 yards is impressive, and doing so was a fine way to enter the record books as Spain's all-time scorer at the World Cup. He also showed off his passing acumen to set up Iniesta for the other first half goal. Even on throwaway plays, Villa was zooming down the sidelines, looking twice as fast as anyone else. Meanwhile, Chile could *not* catch a break. Along with their keeper charging halfway to midfield so he could dispossess Torres (only to send the ball right to the feet of Villa), Chile were harshly reduced to 10 men after the card-happy ref dropped a second yellow on Estrada. It looked like he and Torres just got tangled up, but the ref felt otherwise; so it goes. I suppose Chile weren't entirely devoid of breaks, though -- right before half, Ponce took down Xabi Alonso and could've been sent off himself. Apparently, the ref decided he'd done enough damage to Chile for the time being, though, and no card was given. The second half started with a cracking goal that took a deflection to freeze Casillas, and suddenly Chile were in the drivers' seat for second place over the Swiss. Asking Switzerland to get 2 goals is like asking Rush Limbaugh to get a conscience. It's like asking a specific chimpanzee to produce Shakespeare. It's like asking the oil to stop spilling. Some natural laws just can't be broken. And so it was -- after the 75th, Spain seemed happy to help kill the game and by extension punish the Swiss team that embarrassed them. I, for one, am glad they did. Defensive football is a fact of life, but the Swiss take negativity to another stratosphere, and I am glad the World Cup didn't reward it with advancement. So Chile's prize? Brazil. Spain gets no pushover themselves in Portugal, and both games will be among the most wide open of the round of 16. 16 on, 16 out.

SCORE! SCORE! CHOKE! Almost a great performance from Spain thanks to an almost-cluch performance by one of their star strikers leaves them almost in a good position. A zig-zagging strike for the ages from David Villa after 17 minutes gave the impression Spain was about to open the floodgates. When he pulled the trigger again, this time sending the ball off a shin and over the keeper, you wondered if Spain would repeat the second half razing by Portugal. But they didn't. Instead, David Villa pulled a Lampard and sent a low ball wide of the net on a penalty, costing himself the hat trick and damaging the all-important goal differential for Spain in the process. Further clouding the assessment of his day, Villa appeared to slap at Honduran Emilio Izaguirre right before halftime. Given what happened to Kaita for Nigeria and Kaka for Brazil, that was a risky and stupid decision that could have cost his team his services in a crucial final game. Sergio Ramos and substitute Cesc Fabregas also blew chances to give Spain a 3 goal lead, and Torres turned in a futile performance, particularly in the first half. So what to make of Spain? A +2 goal differential going into their match against Chile would've forced a defensive Swiss team at a 0 goal diff to really pour it on vs Honduras, a style to which they're wholly unaccustomed. Instead, it's +1 for Spain, and they have the tougher task against Chile than Switzerland does against Honduras. For a co-favorite to win the whole thing, Spain ought not be happy with this result. Their fate is only partially in their hands, and unless they ransack Chile, even the ostensible achievement of advancement could be rewarded with a first round match against Brazil.

The current table:

Chile	6 pts	+2 goal difference
Spain	3 pts	+1 goal difference
Switzerland	3 pts	even goal difference
Honduras	0 pts	-3 goal difference

The possibilities:

	Chile win	Chile/Spain draw	Spain win
Switzerland win	Chile 9 Switzerland 6 Spain 3 Honduras 0	Chile 7 Switzerland 6 Spain 4 Honduras 0	Spain 6 +2 or better Switzerland 6 +1 or better Chile 6 +1 or worse Honduras 0 Chile need to avoid a two goal loss to avoid elimination. If Switzerland win by two, Chile is eliminated. If both are 1 goal wins, it comes to total goals and then a lottery. If Switzerland win by two more goals than Spain, they win the group.
Switzerland/Honduras draw	Chile 9 Switzerland 4 Spain 3 Honduras 1	Chile 7 Spain 4 +1 goal difference Switzerland 4 even goal difference Honduras 1 Spain go through on goal difference.	Spain 6 +2 or better Chile 6 +1 or worse Switzerland 4 Honduras 1 Spain win the group on goal difference
Honduras win	Chile 9 Spain 3 even or worse Switzerland 3 -1 or worse Honduras 3 -2 or better Honduras needs to beat Switzerland by at least two to pass Switzerland. If Hondurans wins by 2 or more, and the combined margin of victory is 5 or more, Honduras advances. If Honduras wins by 1, then if Chile wins by 3 or more, Switzerland advances. If Honduras wins by 2 and Chile wins by 2, it is total goals between the Honduras and Spain. If Honduras wins by 1 and Chile wins by 2, it is total goals between Switzerland and Spain. Otherwise, Spain advances.	Chile 7 Spain 4 Switzerland 3 Honduras 3	Spain 6 +2 or better Chile 6 +1 or worse Switzerland 3 Honduras 3 Spain wins the group on goal difference

Chilean soccer is as pretty as their country. After watching Chile slice and dice their way up the pitch against Honduras, I'm confident of one thing: the Spain-Chile game could, by itself, correct the scoring average of this tournament. The results-oriented crowd continues to strengthen its argument about the scoring problems in South Africa. Brazil put up two goals but looked surprisingly mortal against the plucky North Koreans, and Chile, for all of their guile, creativity, and speed, only managed a single goal against Honduras. That was plenty, though. Other than a brief spell in the middle of the second half, Honduras presented no threat to Chile despite the Chilean 3-3-1-3 formation that begs to be counter-attacked. Chile usually sent 6 forward in attack at full speed, sometimes sent 7, and their 3 defenders didn't seem the most disciplined lot in terms of position. But only twice did I think "Ooh, this break for Honduras could lead to something!" Chile suffered the over-passing disease, also known as Wengeritis, and passed up too many good chances for great ones during the first 75 minutes. Then, down the stretch, they were all too happy to fire long shots as they waited for the clock to tick down. Perhaps they were tired, but they were also lucky that copying the Slovakian late-game plan didn't lead to a similarly painful equalizer. Other than that tendency to ask too-intricate questions in the box, though, Chile were a joy to watch. They ran the give-and-go to great effect, especially in the first half, and their wingers dominated play with speed and decisiveness. Alexis Sanchez was the star of the game. Right before half, for example, he received the ball in the box, stopped on a dime, cut inwards towards goal, and fired a laser. Only a shoulda-been-a-penalty handball from Manuel Figueroa prevented the Chileans from putting up 2 in the first half. Sanchez seemed to be involved in most of the exciting build-up, and this Udinese winger definitely turned heads in the EPL and La Liga. The goal came from one of the weakest finishes but best string of passes in the game. From midfield, the ball was batted back and forth, and within seconds Valdivia sent a through-ball to Isla down the right, who centered beautifully to striker Jean Beausjour. Honduran defender Sergio Mendoza slid in-between Beausjour and the goal, and the ball deflected off him back into Beausjour and bounced into goal. But the sloppy end doesn't detract from the precise lead-up and the goal was well-earned, as was the victory. Spain, you've got a surprisingly tough act to follow, at least in terms of entertainment.