PARAGUAY vs SPAIN:Three penalties. Where is the fourth?

1 / 4 finals . Match № 60, PARAGUAY - SPAIN - 0:1, Vladimir KONSTANTINOV, from Johannesburg.

WHEN AND BEER no joy

That's anecdotal history, witness to which your correspondent was on Saturday night at the stadium of Ellis Park , where the struggle for the semifinals agreed Paraguay and Spain.

One of the audience - gay men 45-50 years old , white, knitted cap flowers of South African flag on his head , sitting on the dais with a girl almost half his age - at some point of the second half went for a beer . Well , I wanted to add man! Especially in South Africa do not have to go far : beer sold at any stage , but not in most of its bowl , and in coffee shops under the stands .

There was no hero in our sector, where due to lack of seats in the press box sat and author of these lines , no more than five minutes. And returned to his passions with a triumphant air, holding a tray with four plastic cups of beer. He sat down in his place and was just about to make the first lap - as heard from the girl that missed three penalty kicks ! For five minutes! You should have seen his face poor guy . That's really so bummer bummer !

At the 59 th minute of the Spanish defender Pique flunked in his own penalty Cardoso - and Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres without hesitation pointed to the 11 -meter mark. But the captain of the Red Furies " Casillas firmly took the ball after hitting the same Cardoso .


Less than two minutes , as Paraguayan Alcaraz put forward in his possession rival Vilyu . Penalty took to punch Xabi Alonso - and struck up perfectly , so here's the rub : some of his partners before the time burst into the penalty area to be the first to catch the best finishing moves . I had to interrupt , and the second time the ball parried by the goalkeeper and captain of the Paraguayan national team has already Villar .

But the most incredible thing that my neighbor on the podium might have missed a fourth penalty ! The fact that Villar , beating out the second blow Xabi Alonso in the next episode of the game knocked down who went to finishing moves Fabregas . But at this decisive action in the quarterfinal World Cup Guatemalan referee venture has failed . I think we were wrong . Besides, he probably would have walked into history.

Incidentally, the appointment Batres to the match with Spain led to an extremely negative reaction in Paraguay. Many people in this country still consider him guilty for the defeat of red and white from Germany in a match 1 / 8 finals World Cup 2002 . According to the Paraguayans , the arbitrator is not appointed then a penalty kick in favor of their team and unfairly deleted Acuña . The famous goalkeeper Chilavert , eight years ago, defended the gates of Paraguay , has even named his new appointment Guatemalans shameful .

After Saturday's game is the turn resent the Paraguayan national team head coach Gerardo Martino . True, he was indignant enough diplomatically . "Something I'm not sure if there was a foul in the episode when this Batres appointed penalty - he said , commenting on the appointment of 11- meter at the gate of his team. - Well, now is stay calm. Tomorrow, FIFA will bring us an apology, and general, everything will be fine . "