Day 11 preview — Portugal vs North Korea; Spain vs Honduras

By Kenneth Tan/Red Sports

Day 10 saw minnows New Zealand hold defending champions Italy to a 1-1 draw while five-time winners Brazil joined Holland in the last 16 after an impressive 3-1 win over dark horses Ivory Coast. Paraguay boosted their qualifying chances for the last 16 after a solid 2-0 victory over Slovakia.

Let’s move on to Day 11 where two big guns, Portugal and Spain, will look to recover from opening day disappointments. The Portuguese take on surprise package North Korea while the Spanish take on minnows Honduras.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo finally break his two-year goalscoring duck for his country? Or will the North Koreans put up another impressive showing to get an unlikely point?

Will Spain’s overall quality prove too much to handle? Or will a Wilson Palacios-led Honduras midfield stifle the Spanish attack again?

Our pundits give their predictions on how the two matches will pan out.

Portugal vs North Korea
Nuri Says: 1-1
I honestly don’t see the point of predicting the outcome of any game now since the recent results have baffled even the professional pundits, so I’m going to go with the current world cup trend — unexpected scorelines. One would expect Portugal to nick the three points with the likes of the world’s most expensive player, Cristiano Ronaldo and fellow teammates such as Ricardo Carvalho etc but I would say that the game will turn out to be quite uneventful and it’ll either be a goalless or a 1-1 draw.

Teams will obviously not underestimate North Korea especially after their first game where Brazil only managed a narrow victory over them. I’m certain Ronaldo and co will not take them lightly too. Receiving very little media attention in the run up to the World cup might actually hold the Koreans in good stead. Coupled with their excellent work ethic, I wouldn’t be surprised (then again, who would?) if the North Koreans manage an upset in this particular contest.

Spain vs Honduras
Nuri Says: 2-0 to Spain
I’ll play safe this time. I think Spain will somehow earn their three points against Honduras perhaps because they are less of a wild card than North Korea. Spain did show glimpses of their brilliance in the first game. With Torres back at Del Bosque’s disposal, Spain only have more reasons to come out victorious against Honduras.

Portugal vs North Korea
Andrew Says: 1-0 to Portugal
I anticipate Portugal struggling to unlock North Korea’s disciplined defence line. Despite having some brilliant individuals such as Cristiano Ronaldo, North Korea rubbished their lowly FIFA rankings and lost to Brazil, ranked 1st in the world, by a pathetically narrow margin of 2-1. Dubbed Asia’s Rooney, Jong Tae-Se will be a handful for the Portuguese but, once taken out of the equation, the North Koreans should not threaten the Portugal goal much.

Spain vs Honduras
Andrew Says: 1-0 to Spain
Spain, Spain, Spain. They ought to win, provided Iker Casillas’ girlfriend doesn’t interfere with the proceedings. They have the talent, as shown in the lead-up to the World Cup, but as with all teams with talent, their opponents tend to go in hard and rough in order to prevent any fluid passing movement to be sustained. Honduras will be a tough nut to crack, but I expect Spain to bundle in a goal somewhere. It may not be pretty though.

Portugal vs North Korea
Alfred Says: 2-0 to Portugal
North Korea have shown that they are a tough nut to break and a draw could be on the cards following Portugal’s misfiring attacks. However, Cristiano Ronaldo and his team has vowed to find their scoring touch. This will be the match to display their attacking capabilities and they will show it.

Man to Watch (Portugal): Liedson
The Brazilian-born striker would have to be on top form if Portugal are to start scoring goals. He has the aerial ability as well as the power in the box that a central striker needs, but has been lacking any decent service of late. He should be determined to perform better after failing to make an impact in the first game.

Man to Watch (North Korea): Ji Yun-Nam
He finished off a decent move against Brazil in the previous game to give the North Koreans their first goal at this year’s finals and played his part in the game filling in at left-back. He will attempt to get forward when he can, but will find himself up against pace, tricks and creativity from Portugal’s front three.

Spain vs Honduras
Alfred Says: 4-0 to Spain
The tournament favourites face a must-win game against minnows Honduras, knowing that another defeat effectively ends their hopes of progressing further in this World Cup which has proved to be a nightmare for football giants. With England and France on the brink of premature elimination, Spain would ensure that they do not follow in the same path. They is likely to bounce back with confidence and take this match with ease.

Man to Watch (Spain): Xavi
The world’s best attacking midfielder was kept silent against Switzerland, but he has the skill and experience to make an impact on any game at any time. His passing range is unmatched and he has the eye to see loopholes in the opponents defense, constantly threading through balls to the attacking trio.

Man to Watch (Honduras): Noel Valladares
If their back line fails, the last line of defence — their goalkeeper — would have to be at his best to prevent a Spanish bombardment. His reflexes and agility will be tested to the limit and if he can deny the likes of David Villa and Fernando Torres, then he would have earned his stripes.

Portugal vs North Korea
Khairul Azmi Says: 2-0 to Portugal
The hardworking North Koreans will be hard to break down but Portugal’s class should see them through.

Spain vs Honduras
Khairul Azmi Says: 3-0 to Spain
Spain will be eager to prove their critics wrong and should come out tops in this match.

Portugal vs North Korea
Khairul Anwar Says: 1-1
Banking on their previous performance, it’s either a North Korea victory or a draw. Portugal is looking to bounch back from their draw against Ivory Coast but North Korea’s defence is pretty solid. 1-1 perhaps?

Spain vs Honduras
Khairul Anwar Says: 2-0 to Spain
The European champions would be looking to prove their worth after the defeat to the Swiss in their opening game.

Portugal vs North Korea
Ryson Says: 2-1 to Portugal
They will want to perform well in this match after a disappointing performance against Ivory Coast.

Spain vs Honduras
Ryson Says: 3-0 to Spain
Like Portugal, Spain will want to bounce back from their poor start against Switzerland.

Portugal vs North Korea
Dilip Says: 2-0 to Portugal
After the stunning performance by North Korea in their first match, I think their level of confidence has soared. We all know that they are very disciplined and can defend very well. It’s up to Portugal — who have yet to score in South Africa — to challenge themselves to break their defence. I predict it to be a one-sided match with a two-goal victory in favour of Portugal.

Spain vs Honduras
Dilip Says: 3-0 to Spain
Spain should come back stronger from their setback in the first game. 3-0 perhaps?

Spain vs Honduras
Naufal Says: 2-0 to Spain
Spain would want to take maximum points considering that they cannot afford to drop any points. Lucky for them, they would be facing Honduras which also lost their opening game to Chile. Spain will go all out with their attacking prowess to overwhelm the Honduran team, so expect them to win comfortably.

Portugal vs North Korea
Alvan Says: 0-0 Draw
The North Koreans have proven themselves to be a well-drilled team which is very organized in their defensive shape, as seen from their match against Brazil. In this game, they will be looking to shut out Portugal’s key player Cristiano Ronaldo. Apart from Ronaldo, the other Portugese players look incapable of leading the frontline and were hugely disappointing against Ivory Coast. The North Korean defence should prevail in this game as the Portuguese attack will not be posing much of a threat to them.

Spain vs Honduras
Alvan Says: 0-0 Draw
In my opinion, apart from England, Spain has got to be the most over-rated team in the World Cup 2010. Without a doubt that they are talented but if their recent friendlies and previous defeat to Switzerland are anything to go by, they lacked the sharpness up front and often looked clueless in attack despite their lion’s share of possession. Hence, it would not be too difficult for minnows Honduras to hold out for a shocking draw.

More News on Portugal and North Korea
Cristiano Ronaldo vows to find scoring touch
North Korea target place in second round
The ghost of 1966
Previous Encounter in 1966 World Cup: Portugal 5-3 North Korea

More News on Spain vs Honduras
Honduras captain Amado Guevara does not fear Spain
Previous Encounter in 1982 World Cup: Spain 1-1 Honduras

Group G	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
BRAZIL	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7
PORTUGAL	3	1	2	0	7	0	+7	5
IVORY COAST	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
NORTH KOREA	3	0	0	3	1	12	-11	0

GROUP H	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
SPAIN	3	2	0	1	4	2	+2	6
CHILE	3	2	0	1	3	2	+1	6
SWITZERLAND	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4
HONDURAS	3	0	1	2	0	3	-3	1

For the World Cup fixtures list with Singapore broadcast timings as well as group tables and the list of CCs with free screenings, go to: http://redsports.sg/2010-world-cup-fixtures-groups/

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