Spain vs. Scotland; Klinsman Stumbles

Spain pulled out all the stops against Scotland, at least for the first 60 minutes of the game.  With Puyol back and Valdes finally getting a start for la Furia Roja, Spain again had a sharpness not really seen since Euro 2008 and, to a somewhat lesser extent, at the 2010 WC .

Granted, Scotland are not a big fish team. It is still worth recognizing that several of the Scottish players play for top sides throughout Europe, and, in theory, they should be pretty decent. Against Spain, however, they looked more like a disorganized junior varsity high school team from the midwest. They could hardly string five passes together.


I don't think the penalty that Scotland scored should have been allowed.  Yes, it was a penalty kick offense. Valdes was slow to claim a ball into the box and clumsily crashed into the Scottish forward. Goodwillie's run up to the penalty looked to me to be a violation of the no-feinting at the point of the shot rule. It's a shame because Valdes is not a bad penalty stopper, and it would have been nice to see the result of a fair fight. Because of that concession, his track record will be forever blemished. Bad luck, Victor.

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On this side of the pond, Jurgen Klinsman's side lost 1-0 to Ecuador. I agree with this blogger. He's said it best.
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Predictions (hopes) for the weekend:
Betis will draw Madrid in the Bernabeu. Ramos will get a yellow card.
Racing de Santander will go down by one or two goals to Barcelona.