Goals from David Villa and Andres Iniesta, coupled with Marco Estrada's dismissal, appeared to give the European champions an impregnable lead at the break, but Rodrigo Millar's deflected strike got the South Americans back into a game they were desperate to win to guarantee a place in the knockout phase. As it transpired, Switzerland's inability to beat Honduras ensured Marcelo Bielsa's side advanced ? something the Chilean players discovered, to their immense relief, after their faces had been pictures of desperation upon the final whistle in Tshwane/Pretoria. 

A capacity crowd at Loftus Versfeld Stadium anticipated a beguiling duel between two footballing sides, whose players swiftly began satisfying those expectations. Chile's Alexis Sanchez drew gasps from the spectators with an eye-catching drag-back, while Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta served notice of his return to fitness and form by nonchalantly side-stepping two opponents and freeing Villa. 

The contest's first chance fell to Fernando Torres, who raced in behind the Chile defence but, under pressure inside the area, blazed over. A better one then fell to Mark Gonzalez. Jean Beausejour squared the ball across goal and, although it was marginally behind the 25-year-old winger, he will have been disappointed at his failure to get a decent connection on a close-range shot. 

Chile continued to push the pace until the 24th minute. That was when the Europeans took the lead. And that was when Villa became the first Spaniard to reach ten goals in major international competitions. Xabi Alonso started the move, robbing Jorge Valdivia of possession and launching the ball forward. Torres gave chase, outstripping the last Chilean defender and forcing Claudio Bravo to race from his line and, while sliding, divert the ball away from the Liverpool striker's path. Unfortunately for the Real Sociedad goalkeeper, his clearance dropped into the path of another clinical Spaniard and Villa, from 40 yards, duly curled the ball into the unguarded net. 

Thirteen minutes later, Spain moved into a two-goal lead. Alonso carried the ball through the midfield and fed Villa, who broke into the area and, after drawing two opponents to him, cut the ball back for Iniesta to effortlessly pass it into the bottom-left corner of Bravo's goal. The referee, Marco Rodriguez, then red-carded Estrada, who had tripped Torres as he was galloping into the penalty area seconds before the goal. 

Logic said that it was curtains for Chile. Bielsa, their indomitable coach, said otherwise. He remodelled his tactics, electing to attack through the centre rather than from the wings, introducing Millar and Esteban Paredes for Valdivia and Gonzalez in an adventurous double substitution. It immediately reaped dividends. Two minutes after the restart, Millar's shot deflected off Gerard Pique and looped over goalkeeper Iker Casillas and into his net. 

Thereafter, however, Chile struggled to unravel their opponents' tactics and, when they did, Parades wasted half-chances. Villa fluffed better ones, his touch deserting him twice in quick succession around the hour mark. Vicente del Bosque's side then intelligently played possession football. Gradually, they exhausted their adversaries, who were already a man down. Bielsa bellowed instructions from the touchline, but Spain's impeccable ball retention left the Chileans unable to execute their coach’s orders. 

There were looks of relief and delight from the Spaniards upon the final whistle. There were ones of uncertainty from the Chileans. That was until they heard the news: they were through to the Round of 16. 
 
 
 

• A조 (남아공,멕시코,우루과이,프랑스)

• B조 (아르헨티나,나이지리아,대한민국,그리스)

• C조 (잉글랜드,미국,알제리,슬로베니아)

• D조 (독일,호주,세르비아,가나)

• E조 (네덜란드,덴마크,일본,카메룬)

• F조 (이탈리아,파라과이,뉴질랜드,슬로바키아)

• G조 (브라질,북한,코트디부아르,포르투칼)

• H조 (스페인,스위스,온두라스,칠레)

All four sides in Group H could conceivably still have qualified heading into this clash at the Free State Stadium, although Honduras, still without a win or a goal, had a huge mountain to climb. In simple terms, both sides needed a win. A thoroughly uninspiring opening spell was, thankfully, brought to an end in the tenth minute when Switzerland, who entered the match still with a chance of finishing top of their group, began to take the initiative. A neat one-two between Gokhan Inler and Tranquillo Barnetta sliced open the Honduras defence but the latter could only drag his shot wide of the target. 

The game had finally started to awake from its slumber and the Swiss No7, Barnetta, in for the suspended Valon Behrami, was playing a key role in that. Honduras, for their part, were lacking any real shape and when Reinaldo Rueda's side did attack, they were guilty of overplaying their passes, with their limited opportunities regularly fizzling out as quickly as they had begun. 

Barnetta switched flanks on the half-hour to try his luck against Mauricio Sabillon, but still Switzerland were unable to make any headway. They did, at least, have chances to break the deadlock ? Barnetta's cross found the feet of Derdiyok, but his half-hearted swing at the ball allowed the attack to be easily swallowed up by the Honduras defence. Then, two minutes from the break, Derdiyok was given the opportunity to make amends, this time turning provider, but Blaise Nkufo got it all wrong at the far post. 

The second half thankfully heralded a more positive spell of play, and Honduras could have edged themselves in front after 53 minutes, when Edgar Alvarez dropped a delightful ball onto the head of David Suazo. But the bustling striker failed to find the target with what was arguably the best opportunity of the match. Derdiyok should have done better with a right-foot shot shortly after the hour, as the Swiss stepped things a gear, largely thanks to the half-time introduction of Hakan Yakin. 

That said, it was Honduras who carved out the next real chance of the game when Suazo, breaking at pace, picked out Alvarez's forward burst, only for the Honduran's strike to be brilliantly tipped over by Diego Benaglio. Switzerland were leaving themselves vulnerable to the counter-attack as they piled forward in numbers in search of the goal that would see them through to the last 16, and were thankful for some poor finishing on the part of the Central Americans, with Alvarez as guilty as anyone. 

As the game opened up, twice substitute Alex Frei went close for the Swiss, while Stephan Lichsteiner was not far away with a fierce right-footed shot. Honduras, who could claim to have had the better chances in a frustrating second period, almost profited from some good work from Georgie Welcome in the dying minutes, but in the end neither side could break the deadlock before the final whistle sounded on their FIFA World Cup dreams.