<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>(Results: </strong>Portugal 0-0 Brazil, North Korea 0-3 Ivory Coast, Chile 1-2 Spain, Switzerland 0-0 Honduras<strong>)</strong></div> <p style="text-align: justify;">The final day of group matches revealed the complete fixture list for the round-of-sixteen of this World Cup. A day that can be remembered for footballing indecents rather than incidents. Two important clashes in group G and H became the scrappiest games of this world cup. Lets take a listen to some of the keynotes of the last day's orchestra.</p> <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">'Nerd Tackle' Of The Day: <em>Pepe(Portugal)</em></span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em> </em></span></strong></div> [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="270" caption="Old habits die hard?"]<a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/portugal-brazil/image/9214526?term=pepe" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px initial initial;" src="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9214526/portugal-brazil/portugal-brazil.jpg?size=500&imageId=9214526" border="0" alt="June 25, 2010 - Durban, South Africa - epa02222191 Pepe (L) of Portugal vies for the ball with Michel Bastos (front) and Felipe Melo of Brazil during the FIFA World Cup 2010 group G preliminary round match between Portugal and Brazil at the Durban stadium in Durban, South Africa, 25 June 2010." width="270" height="450" /></a>[/caption] <div style="text-align: justify;">Just a season back <em>Pepe</em> was banned for ten matches for deliberately kicking <em>Fransisco Casquero</em> in a La Liga match against <em>Getafe</em>. As if the reprimand was not enough, the bad boy of Portugal played the first half of the match in exactly the same destructrive mood, frequently nailing <em>Fabiano</em> and <em>Melo</em>. Finally he was cautioned for stamping his boot on to <em>Melo</em>'s calf muscle.</div> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"> </span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Hand of God (?) Moment Of The Day: <em>Juan(Brazil)</em></span></strong></p> [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Oh Juan, it's called football.."]<a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/football-portugal-brazil/image/9214170?term=juan" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px initial initial;" src="http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9214170/football-portugal-brazil/football-portugal-brazil.jpg?size=500&imageId=9214170" border="0" alt="June 25, 2010 - South Africa - Football - Portugal v Brazil FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 - Group G - Durban Stadium, Durban, South Africa - 25/6/10..Brazil's Juan (2nd L) is shown a yellow card by referee Benito Archundia Tellez." width="400" height="332" /></a>[/caption] <p style="text-align: justify;"></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The perfect long ball was destined to reach an unmarked <em>Cristiano Ronaldo</em> on the right flank, but <em>Juan</em> had some other plans. Knowing very well that if he doesn't intervene between the ball and <em>Ronaldo</em>, it can prove to be dangerous for Brazil. Along came his masterpiece - sticking out his left hand deliberately to stop it from reaching <em>Ronaldo</em>. He earned a booking which was far lesser punishment than what he truly deserved.</p> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong> </strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Goal Of The Day: <em>Andres Iniesta(Spain)</em></strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><em> </em></strong></span></div> [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Spanish Armada is gaining momentum"]<a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/chile-spain/image/9218147?term=iniesta" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px initial initial;" src="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9218147/chile-spain/chile-spain.jpg?size=500&imageId=9218147" border="0" alt="June 25, 2010 - Pretoria, South Africa - epa02222795 Spanish player Andres Iniesta (bottom right corner) scores the 2-0 during the FIFA World Cup 2010 group H preliminary round match between Chile and Spain at the Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, 25 June 2010." width="450" height="317" /></a>[/caption] <p style="text-align: justify;"></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">After being set up by <em>David Villa</em> inside the penalty box, <em>Iniesta</em> did not make any mistakes and his neat right footed drive was enough to give Spain a two goal cushion against Chile in their final group match. The play for setting up this goal was one of the moments of the day and the cool finish made it look even better.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"> </span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Save Of The Day: <em>Diego Benaglio(Switzerland)</em></span></strong></p> [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="What a save!"]<a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/switzerland-honduras/image/9218257?term=diego+benaglio" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px initial initial;" src="http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9218257/switzerland-honduras/switzerland-honduras.jpg?size=500&imageId=9218257" border="0" alt="June 25, 2010 - Bloemfontein, South Africa - epa02222839 Switzerland's goalkeeper Diego Benaglio (R) prepares to make a save as Honduras' David Suazo (L) tries for the header during the FIFA World Cup 2010 group H preliminary round match between Switzerland and Honduras at the Free State stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa, 25 June 2010." width="450" height="378" /></a>[/caption] <p style="text-align: justify;"></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Switzerland's chance of qualifying for the knockout stage could have taken a knockout punch well before the mandated time. On 71st minute, an unmarked <em>Edgar Alvarez</em> of <em>Honduras </em>had to tap in the ball to score Honduras's first goal of this tournament. But <em>Benaglio</em>, who orchestrated the Swiss defense throughout the tournament, pulled off a remarkable one-handed save to keep Switzerland's chances alive, though only for a few more minutes.</span></em></p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Harakiri Of The Day: <em>Claudio Bravo(Chile)</em></span></strong></p> [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="The game-defining moment"]<a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/chile-spain/image/9218258?term=claudio+bravo" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px initial initial;" src="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9218258/chile-spain/chile-spain.jpg?size=500&imageId=9218258" border="0" alt="June 25, 2010 - Pretoria, South Africa - epa02222842 Chile's goalkeeper Claudio Bravo tries to clear the ball in front of Spain's Fernando Torres (C) only seconds before Torres' teammate David Villa (not pictured) took advantage of the deflected clearance and scored the 1-0 lead during the FIFA World Cup 2010 group H preliminary round match between Chile and Spain at the Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, 25 June 2010." width="450" height="325" /></a>[/caption] <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"> </span></strong></p> <span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;">In a moment of sheer madness <em>Bravo</em> came running out of the penalty box to put in a fine sliding tackle to dispossess <em>Fernando Torres</em>. But the clearance went straight to <em>David Villa</em> who acknowledged the gift with left footed 'wink' and gave Spain their all important goal out of nowhere. That goal set up the outcome of the match and surely <em>Bravo</em> must be thinking what possessed him to make that run.</span></span> <p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Dictators Of The Day: </span></strong><em><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Benito Archundia and Marco Rodriguez (Mexico)</span></strong></em></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/portugal-brazil/image/9214210?term=benito+archundia" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://view1.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9214210/portugal-brazil/portugal-brazil.jpg?size=500&imageId=9214210" border="0" alt="June 25, 2010 - Durban, South Africa - epa02222088 Mexican referee Benito Armando Archundia Tellez (R) shows the yellow card to Portuguese Duda (C) as Brazil's Gilberto Silva (2-R), Portuguese Bruno Alves (2-L) and Danny (L) look on during the FIFA World Cup 2010 group G preliminary round match between Portugal and Brazil at the Durban stadium in Durban, South Africa, 25 June 2010." width="450" height="337" /></a></p> <span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"> </span></strong></em></span></span> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;">No, they did not dictate anything by playing for their country; however, they dictated two of the most important matches of the night, the way they wanted to. Portugal and their cousins Brazil, have met previously and the tension between the sides has never failed to come to the fore. In order to curb all the ill-intended aggression, <em>Mr. Archundia</em> started flashing the yellow card as if it's a guard of honor, but majority of the bookings could have been avoided. A</span></span><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;">midst all this, <em>Archundia</em>'s mania of law and order went for a toss when he only cautioned <em>Juan</em> for a deliberate handball, in a last ditch attempt to stop <em>Cristiano Ronaldo</em> to run away with the ball, an act for which <em>Juan</em> should have been sent off. Seven cards were shown in the first half and quite surprisingly none in the second half!</span></span> <span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em>Mr. Rodriguez</em>, on the other hand, started off rationally but a card flashing spree for a period of 22 minutes in the first half left the Chileans riling with two goals and one man down. Simply put, the second yellow card shown to <em>Estrada</em> was way over the top.</span></span></p> [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="The Mexican referees lost the plot to dish out a plethora of cards"]<a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/sports-news-june-2010/image/9219901?term=marco+rodriguez" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px initial initial;" src="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9219901/sports-news-june-2010/sports-news-june-2010.jpg?size=500&imageId=9219901" border="0" alt="June 25, 2010 - 06088655 date 25 06 2010 Copyright imago BPI Referee Marco Rodriguez sends Marco Estrada of Chile Off for A 2nd Yellow Card PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUKxFRAxNEDxESPxSWExPOLxCHNxJPN Football men World Cup National team international match Tshwane Pretoria Action shot Vdig 2010 horizontal Highlight premiumd Football." width="450" height="332" /></a>[/caption] <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;"> </span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;">The final day completed the fixtures for the knockout stage - Brazil topped group G, followed by Portugal; whereas Spain topped group H, followed by Chile. Brazil will meet known foes Chile in a <em>Latino Battle Royal,</em> whereas the Iberian neighbors - Spain and Portugal - will fight it out in a bid to reach the last eight. </span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"></p>