Anyway, thanks all for your comments and company - bye.
FULL-TIME: Belarus 0-1 Spain
Good game, that. First half, Spain maintained possession as they do, but didn’t threaten much, the fascination whether they’d find a way. Second half, Belarus stepped it up, and ought really to have equalised, though they ought subsequently to have conceded.
Elsewhere, Slovakia have beaten Macedonia 2-1, so they stay three points clear of Spain at the top, and earlier, Ukraine beat Luxembourg, so they stay three points behind Spain in third place. Belarus are next, but a further eight points adrift.
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90+5 min Spain are still attacking, and Morata finds space on the left of the box, caning a shot that Gorbunov pushes high - Vitolo fancies himself the empty net as the ball drops, but Gorbunov recovers to head clear.
90+3 min “Don’t think he ‘refused to learn Catalan,’ says Puc of Hleb. “That was probably just a rumour as there’s no evidence of that whatsoever. In fact it seems that most players didn’t really need to learn Catalan, as Spanish sufficed, as seen here and here. Even Messi conducted all his interviews in Spanish. I’d say the issue was mostly his personality and the almost perfect state the squad was already in.”
I’ve no idea as to his linguistic arrangements, nor his personality, but yes, it’s tricky to get into perhaps the greatest club side of all-time.
90+1 min There shall be five additional minutes.
90 min Spain retain, but actually look to score. Now they’ve an actual striker again, they can’t resist looking to find the runs in behind; first, a through-pass seeking Morata is intercepted, and then, Isco finds Bernat down the left. His cross is low towards the near post, and Morata’s there first - but can’t quite intoduce instep to ball.
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90 min Putilo on for Hleb.
88 min Ha-ha thisaway, ha-ha thataway... Isco, in acres, finds Vitolo down the right. He speeds into the box, but Martynovich determines to leave Morata and slides into a superb saving tackle.
86 min Silva is replaced by Bernat.
85 min Frustrated, Silva boots Filipenko, and is booked.
84 min Lovely from Spain, and Silva in particular, taking a ball from Isco just outside the box and returning it via clip to the by-line. And what a return ball returns his return ball, snapped back into his path - he’s sure he’s scored, as he hammers goalwards from eight yards, but Gorbunov beats clear.
83 min Spain pass the ball this way and that, then do likewise that way and this.
81 min Second change for Belarus: Volodko off, Stasevich on.
80 min Spain have improved these last few minutes, playing the game in the Belarus half. Busquets finds Alba outside him and the ball comes back in, slipped behind the back-four for Silva - he catches up with it, but only just, forced to slide in to slide it out for a throw, preferable to a goal-kivk.
79 min Change for Belarus: Drahun on for Kislyak.
78 min Almost immediately, Isco shows what he can do that Fabregas cannot, swaying and sashaying past three men before he’s crowded out just outside the box and just when he looked to be beating the final barrier between him and goal.
77 min Spain are sitting deeper; will Belarus be brave, and throw on a further striker?
75 min Fabregas departs, Isco arrives.
73 min Again, Belarus mark poorly at a set-piece, and the ball finds its way to Cazorla, right on the edge of the box and level with the right-hand post. He cracks a low drive dead straight, and Gorbunov does well to scurry across his goal and insert a hand to shove clear.
72 min Lovely from Kislyak, accelerating away down the left and finding Volodko, whose shot flies well away from goal. Immediately, Spain break, and Silva, weaving inside off the right, welts a curler that’s headed for the near post, only for Marynovitch to deflect wide.
69 min Fabregas sneaks around the left-hand side of the Belarus defence, stretches to keep the ball from going behind, and slides into a cut-back. There’s no one around to receive it.
68 min A lull.
66 min Vitolo replaces Pedro.
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64 min I wonder if Del Bosque is preparing a change, because this isn’t going as he’d like. But as I type that, Morata really should have finished the game! He bustles through into the box, right side, could shoot, checks, could shoot, check, passes, and the chance goes. Eventually, Fabregas has a shy from outside the area - it’s easy for the keeper - but Morata should’ve taken his opportunity instead of trying to work the perfect angle.
62 min Spain seem not to be enjoying Belarus’ physical approach. For what it’s worth, it looks reasonable enough to me, and Maevski zetzes a shot from 30 yards that has Casillas flying through the air to punch away.
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61 min Kornilenko moves down the right, and Ramos charges into him, playground bumper cars-style. Ramos is displeased, and Spain, if not quite rattled, are certainly disturbed.
60 min Pedro tussles with Bordachev - I think - and, frustrated, flicks hand into face. He escapes with a booking, but couldn’t have complained too hard if he’d been sent-off.
58 min This is an entirely different game now, Spain barely on top, let alone dominating. And Belarus are picking their passes better when they break, Volodko taking possession and haring through midfield; he espies Kornilenko running across the line, but can’t quite feed the ball through to him.
56 min Dearie me! Belarus, who’ve been much better so far this half, win a corner down the right, clipped in by Kislyak and controlled superbly by Bordachev around the penalty spot area. What a touch that is! and, though he could shoot, instead, he sidesteps inside as two men prostrate themselves, and aims to drive for the far top corner. But, leaning back, he can’t wrap his foot around it, swiping high and wide. Another great chance, gone.
55 min Perhaps aggravated by how little reward he received for what was a good connection, Morata chases Kislyak and rakes studs down calf. This earns him a booking.
54 min Morata, who’s had a decent game and looks as good an all-round striker as he did during the club season, drills a low snapshot from 20 yards that Gorbunov smothers down by his near post.
53 min News from elsewhere: Radamel Falcao has a new haircut. On which point, there have been many wonderful manifestations of Jose Mourinho’s ego, but signing him might well be the finest.
50 min Pique and Maevski crash into one another, so there’s a pause while they recover.
49 min And what a chance that is! A decent passing move Hleb finds space in front of the Spanish back four; he takes a touch and slides a deliciousa ball through for Kornilenko. He’s onside! But Casillas is out sharply, and does just enough to deflect his low effort away, even if he ought not to have had a chance; had Kornilenko taken a touch, he could’ve done anything; because he didn’t, it was obvious where the shot was going.
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48 min Belarus have started with a bit more conviction; to no avail, but it’s something.
46 min Off we go again; Spinderella cut it up one time.
Elsewhere, group leaders Slovakia lead Macedonia by two to nil.
“Are Belarus club sides good enough that they’s have been described as ‘a crack outfit in the 90s?” tweets Barca Jim.
Hmmm - I’d insert “continental” between “crack” and “outfit”, and perhaps take it back a decade or so. I think there was probably a different appellation for Iron Curtain sides, but it’s currently eluding me.
Seems ITV have imposed a uniform on studio guests; that or Oh! How embarrassing!
Half-time adverts:
HALF-TIME: Belarus 0-1 Spain
What a time to score,rather like every other time at which scoring takes place. Spain have had all the play, but weren’t exactly peppering the goal; will Belarus still sit in and hope to hold out for another half-hour or so, or alter their strategy?
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GOAL! Belarus 0-1 Spain (Silva, 45)
Again, Fabregas looks for Ramos at the back post, and the keeper, spooked, comes flying out for a ball he’s getting naewhere near. It drops perfectly for Silva, and he kills it with a perfect touch, lets it bounce, and then panels into the neat side-netting as defenders fruitlessly converge on the line.
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44 min There’s a touch of Arsene Wenger about Vicente del Bosque, and a touch of the Arsenal about Spain. And this is not entirely unGiroud from Morata, pulling left and cruyff-turning back inside to himself; he’s fouled.
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43 min Maevski and Silva slide together into a loose ball and crack knees. Looks a real sair yin, and there’s a short delay while both recompose.
@DanielHarris Cesc Fabregas in cartoon form pic.twitter.com/AOC5rXns3I
— Jimbo (@BarcaJim) June 14, 2015
41 min Another chance for Spain, again from a corner, again Ramos unable to direct his header, this time arriving at the near post.
40 min I wonder if - and how - Del Bosque will change this. He’s got options, and really has little use for Busquets, brilliant though he is, but would he be prepared to send on a second striker or a dribbler like Isco.
37 min “Who’s to say how you transcribe that name, though?” asks Phil Podolsky. “The Russians say ‘Aleksandr’ and hearing Americans call Pushkin ‘Allegzanderrrr’ is well grating. But the Belarusians? Anyway, apparently he refused to learn the local language when he transferred to Barcelona, not that the most fluent and crisp Catalan would have seen him vying for minutes with Xaviesta during that treble season.”
Yep, of the three recent Barcelona European Cup winning sides, I’d say that was probably the best - beat the best opponents, and had Eto’o and Henry. Perhaps not as good as Neymar and Suarez, but more than balanced by the aforementioned midfield at its absurd peak.
35 min Pedro hares clear through midfield, finds his way into the box, left-hand side, then checks when he might have taken on his man, sliding back to Cazorla. He shoots, but looks for placement rather than power, rapping towards the middle of the goal and making it easy for Gorbunov.
33 min Santi Cazorla in cartoon form.
31 min Cazorla, who’s been quiet, bounces from centre to left and clips a straight ball over the top for Alba, whose pace is making him Spain’s biggest threat. Naturally, he’s the stones to take a swing as it drops onto his laces, lashing only just over the bar.
29 min “As if FIFA didn’t have quite enough to answer for,” writes Charles Antaki, “their insistence at the last World Cup on team strips being ‘of one uniform colour’ has had lasting pernicious effects. I don’t know how many international game I’ve seen over the last week or so with one team in all-white and the other team in all-something else. Spain’s troubles may to be simply due their giving up their blue shorts, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it had something to do with it.”
Like a man stranded in a river of crocodiles complaining that his hair’s a mess.
27 min A straight ball, and suddenly, Kornilenko’s in the box, left-hand side, and with a favourable bounce that enables him to lace a shot. But he’s moving away from goal, swivelling to get it away, which allows Casillas to beat clear without serious alarm.
26 min Silva finds a pocket of space deep in the Belarus box, left-hand side, and falls, eventually. He claims a penalty, and Ashton agrees - I’m not so sure. Bordachev slides in, gets the faintest touch on the ball, but doesn’t necessarily touch Silva, who, when he realises he’s not getting a shot away, collapses.
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26 min Belarus have defended pretty well here, restricting Spain to two chances, one of which came from a corner.
23 min Spain inject some pace, and Fabregas, on the left by-line, clips low, back to Alba, arriving at the edge of the box. He flicks through for Silva, who can’t gather, and in the meantime, is absolutely cleansed by Kislyak, ploughing through him. This causes him what some know as pain, and he shouts, groans, rolls and limps off, before returning to the fray.
21 min Alba sways inside and nashes past Nekhaychik on the inside, so is pulled back; booking and a free-kick, just outside the box down its left-hand side. Again, Fabregas - who’s wearing a mask - flips in, this time looking for Busquets, but various defenders bustle it clear.
19 min Spain win a corner on the right and Fabregas curls flat to Ramos, six yards out and right of centre. He leaps hard, lowering his marker to the ground, but opts to go back across the keeper instead of into the vacant near-post area, and the save is easy enough in the end. Good chance, that.
18 min David Silva is a lovely mover, his little stutter-step almost rugby-like - and there’re two things you’d never expect to compare. He wanders in off the right and finds Cazorla, who backheels - but Filipenko reads it and clears.
16 min The Belarus fans are doing some excellent high-pitched whistling when Spain have the ball. More of this, please.
15 min Fabregas sells Pique short with a pass, and Belarus flock forwards, Maevski finding Volodko to his left. The cross is low, and Pique slides into it, completing the interception but without clearing. Kornilenko is after the loose ball, but can’t turn on it, and Spain eventually get rid.
14 min The crowd try to lift their side as Spain flick it about from centre to right, and Shitov closes Silva down well, forcing him to play the ball behind for a goal-kick.
12 min It’s been a while since Belarus had a kick, and Pedro finds space at inside-left rather like Morata did a couple of minutes earlier, shooting into Bordachev’s shins after finding a similar angle.
10 min Morata looks really lively, running across the line as Fabregas carries the ball inside from the right, flicking a pass between full-back and centre-back, into his stride. Morata reads it well and times his run too, swivelling into a snapshot that allows him to shoot for the far corner, which rushes only just wide.
8 min Shitov hauls Alba down on the left by-line, for no reason; Fabregas stands up the ensuing free-kick for Ramos, alone at the back post. He can’t control his header, though, and the opportunity passes.
7 min Dean Ashton reckons Pedro’s a key man, as there’s not much pace in this Spain side - he’s right, I suppose, and looking down the subs, there’s not a whole lot of it on the bench, neither. Meanwhile, on the pitch, Silva darts inside Bordachev, and is summarily upended at the cost of a yellow card and a suspension; silly behaviours.
5 min Hello! Belarus break down the right with Volodko, who slips inside to Kornilenko as white shirts fly forwards. He can’t quite work the ball to Hleb, alongside him, but at least the conviction was there, if not the quality.
3 min Spain have Belarus pinned back here, forcing a corner that comes to nowt, while the commentators discuss Pique - he was jeered by his own fans against Costa Rica on Thursday, for having a giggle at Real Madrid’s expense.
2 min Fabregas nips - well, by his standards - into the box, finding himself on the left by-line, and digs out a cross to the back post. It’s cleared, but only to the edge, Busquets pokes back in, and Morata bundles through a challenge to give Pedro a sight of goal. But Gorbunov is out quickly to smother.
1 min Spain are passing it around <ctrl c>.
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1 min The rain’s stopped, and Spain kick-off.
“Even somebody who bothered to put together a 7 minute video of his greatest moments didn’t bother looking up how to spell his first name,” emails Craig McDonnell. “Sums him up perfectly for me.”
Him, or the internet generation.
This is a serious national anthem rendition here, complete with tuneless kid right next to the mic; excellent stuff.
The teams come emerge, as we learn that Dean Ashton is in and around the commentary box. He was a properly intelligent player, so it’ll be interesting to see how he does.
At his best, Aleksandr Hleb was a lovely player with an exceptional ability to protect the ball - arch purveyor of the pass before the pass, as his defenders would say to those pointing out his lack of goals scored or created. Like Petit and Overmars before him, it didn’t quite work out when he left Arsenal for Barcelone, but here he is being very good.
Here they are, via your Wikipedias:
Tonight, Matthew, Iker Casillas is going to be his 162nd cap for Spain - that takes him from joint 9th to 9th in the overall list. If anyone can name more than two of those above, I’d be incredibly impressed, and as we all know, there can be no greater accolade.
Favourite Belorusians: Andrei Arlovski. Here he is, last week.
Despite what it says at the top of the page, this game is not at Dinamo Stadium, but at Borisov Stadium. And it’s a sell-out, 14,000 Belarusians taking advantage of of tickets priced between €4-10 to holler their lungs out - it’ll never catch on.
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Well, that’s not quite as fun a Spain side as could be. I guess it’s pretty tricky for Isco and Koke to find a way into that midfield, but Casillas ahead of De Gea is pretty avant garde, and Pedro’s doing pretty well to still be a first pick. Still, we can always rely on Sergio Ramos to amuse us.
Teams!
Belarus (4-4-1-1): Gorbunov; Shitov, Martynovich, Filipenko, Bordachev; Nekhaychik, Kislyak, Maevski, Volodko; Hleb; Kornilenko.
Subs: Zhevnov, Chernik, Polyakov, Politevich, Dragun, Stasevich, Putilo, Krivets, Laptev, Signevich.
Spain (4-3-3): Casillas; Juanfran, Piqué, Ramos, Alba; Busquets, Cazorla, Fabregas; Pedro, Morata y Silva.
Subs: De Gea, Rico, Carvajal, Bartra, San Jose, Bernat, Koke, Nolito, Vidal, Vitolo, Isco, Alcacer.
Updated
Preamble
Given the many adjustments and amendments made to the game by the footballing authorities, it stands to reason that occasionally one might work quite well, and this having games all the way across the weekend might actually be one. Yes, we’ve all just been immiserated by England’s two banks of four, but we can forget it immediately, because immediately, here’s something else to watch.
Of course, authorities being authorities, footballing authorities being footballing authorities, they’ve already gone and ruined it. This should be a crucial game, but thanks to a different adjustment and amendment, motivated by the same financial imperative, it isn’t: despite sitting second in the group and only three points above Ukraine, it’s still more or less impossible for Spain to avoid qualifying for next summer’s finals,
But we all know frogs go sha la la la la this should still be a fascinating evening. Vicente del Bosque is in the middle of reconstructing what was, by objective standards, the finest international team of all-time, and, shorn of Xavi, is more or less obliged to employ in a faster, more aggressive style. And, at the same time, opponents are no long as inclined to retreat and hope for a break, able to get after things instead of simply staying alive.
Quite whether Belarus can manage that, well. They started the group badly but have since improved under a new coach, winning in Macedonia in March, and generally feeling happier about stuff. We shall see.
Kick-off: 7.45pm
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