Corneal: Spain are on their way.
Alvin Corneal (FIFA.COM).
In my experience down through the years in Trinidad I have come up against Honduras many times as a player and coach. In the past they have always produced talented players, but had a tendency to be inconsistent and complacent. But now, with a number of their players in Europe and genuine stars like Wilson Palacios, Maynor Figueroa and David Suazo, they are more complete, and they gave Spain a real challenge.
I think the Hondurans suffered a little bit from deciding to use only one striker. The coach showed Spain a little too much respect from a tactical point of view. With only one in attack, they deprived themselves the ability to turn their good midfield work into real dangerous attacks. Suazo had no support, and the cavalry was always too far away. He needed help to create chances on goal. In defence, they were beaten by an amazing David Villa, whose first goal was pure magic. No defence could have done a thing about it.
Spain will have benefitted from their 2-0 win over Honduras. They improved a great deal from their first game. The chemistry looked good and they were very cohesive in the midfield. They controlled the ball totally and they did a very good job of handling a good Honduran team, who would give most sides a real test. Fernando Torres worked himself a little closer to fitness and Villa did very well for himself and his confidence. Spain are on their way.