Spain minus Raul who is on the bench and they still score 2 goals in the first 15 minutes. David Villa, Xabi Alonso, and Luis Garcia ate up the Ukraine defence. On the other hand the Spanish defence is gambling on Andrei Shevchenko being the lone threat up front, moving up their defence upfield and so far its paying off. 6 offsides for the Ukraine. Athough Steve would like to give the referees a clinic on calling offsides. And I agree some of them were really dubious as Tommie Smyth pointed out.
Spain really look impressive but the Ukraine are not really helping matters. They look shellshocked and there is nobody in the midfield who seems to directing the attack. Long balls upfront to Shevchenko and Voronin are proving to be useless because of the offsides and the quicker Spanish defence beating them to it regularly. Sergio Ramos is proving to be a monster on defence.
Oleg Blokhin better think up something quick. This Spain team is sitting out the likes of Raul, Cesc Fabregas, Asier Del Horno, Andres Iniesta, and they are playing that well.
Update: What a terrible call. Give me a break, David Villa was offside. And then he wasn’t fouled in the box. A red card and a penalty kick. What is the referee thinking? And Villa scores. The Ukraine are a man down. They still have to play 40 mins of soccer.