Here's how the cards and goals are spread over the positions:
Position | Goals scored | Number of card earners |
Goalkeeper | 0 | 3 |
Defender | 9 | 48 |
Midfielder | 24 | 45 |
Striker | 35 | 21 |
Total goals: 67, Total cards: 130 (some players got more than one)
The first game of the day was North Korea against Portugal. At first, the brave Asian side held their ground, but Portugal showed that their draw against Ivory Coast was a fluke as they scored one goal in the first half. In the second half, North Korea fell to pieces as Portugal got six more goals for the top-scoring game of the tournament. Last time these teams met was in the second round of the 1966 World Cup, where North Korea went 3-0 up and then lost 5-3 thanks to the incredible Eusebio! He scored 4 goals in that game, and went on to become the top scorer in the cup. [It was England who won, though :D]
Afterwards, Chile won their second game 1-0, giving them six points. This puts Chile at the top of their group thanks to Switzerland's previous win and Spain's loss. It's likely this group will be determined by goal difference if Switzerland beat Honduras and Spain beat Chile. So it's up to the teams to make sure they score as many goals as possible! This game has been the roughest so far of the tournament, with 10 cards including a straight red to Switzerland! Saudi-Arabian referee AL GHAMDI Khalil has previously refereed the game between France and Mexico, where six yellow cards were given out. It seems from his record that he does often give out a lot of cards, and he's a teacher in 'normal life', so feel sorry for his students! World Referee.com gives him the worst refereeing performance of the tournament so far! He also gave Chile a goal that was clearly offside.
Finally, Spain took on Honduras. After a defeat to Switzerland despite being the better team, they had to do well, and succeeded, winning 2-0. Both goals were scored by David VILLA, which also puts him in contention for the Adidas golden boot. Spain also managed another clean game, getting no cards once again. This means that Spain is the only team in the tournament that has not received any cards!
Goals per game: Mean – 2.09, Median – 3, Mode – 2, Range – 7
Cards per game: Mean – 4.06, Median – 4, Mode – 3,5, Range - 9
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