A surprise? In this tournament maybe not

So we have our first major upset of the 2010 World Cup tournament as Switzerland beat Spain 1-0 in Group H action. Yes Spain were pre tournament favorites, Yes Spain boasted a vastly stronger line up then the Swiss and Yes Spain dominated position in the game. However the Swiss proved to be a strong organized team who capitalized on the one moment of sloppy play by the Spanish. Also as this years tournament has shown us at least in this first round of group games, a strong organized midfield will tend to win you matches (The exception in this case is Germany).

You also have to credit the Swiss with having a game plan for the Spanish and sticking to it. There is a lot of pressure from just about every media outlet for teams to ratchet up the goals in the tournament as we have seen many goalless draws or 1 goal games. This can be misconceived as boring or negative play on all sides, but there have been some fascinating games so far that have been lacking in the goal department. What makes Switzerland's victory so interesting was the coverage of it; it seemed that the commentators were hoping for a Spain victory. There was more talk about the stars of Spain than the fact that the Swiss were winning the game.

Lets not get ahead og ourselves, it's just the first round of the group stage and Spain will right the ship. However do not be surprised if we see a few more upsets in this tournament then in previous ones.

Cheers,
Mike