Attacking excellence, defensive distinction

There were landmark achievements at either end of the pitch on Day 11, with Switzerland’s new clean sheet record competing for acclaim with Portugal’s prolificacy and a David Villa milestone. As always, FIFA.com takes a closer look at South Africa 2010's standout statistics.

per cent of Portugal’s FIFA World Cup™ goals have come in two matches against one unfortunate team: Korea DPR. Forty-four years after their Eusebio-inspired 5-3 comeback win over the North Koreans at England 1966, A Selecção das Quinas put seven unanswered goals past the same opponents for their biggest-ever win at the global showpiece. Today's Cape Town triumph sits at joint-seventh on the list of lopsided FIFA World Cup scorelines, and is the tournament’s most emphatic victory since Germany’s 8-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia in 2002. Hungary’s 10-1 victory over El Salvador at Spain 1982 remains the biggest win in FIFA World Cup history.

shots is what Chile require for every one goal if their first two matches at South Africa 2010 are anything to go by. Against Honduras and Switzerland, La Roja’s statistics have been identical: 20 efforts, one goal and, fortunately for them - given this meagre 5 per cent success rate - none against.

hours and 19 minutes without conceding a goal enabled Switzerland to set a new and impressive FIFA World Cup record today. The Swiss, who started the day in third place behind Italy (550 minutes) and England (501), rose to the No1 position midway through the second half, but only had eight minutes to savour their new status. That was when Chile’s Mark Gonzalez became the first player to score against the Helvetians since Spain’s Txiki Beguiristain at USA 1994.

different players were on target for Portugal in their 7-0 win over Korea DPR. Only one team in the history of the FIFA World Cup can boast a superior tally, with seven players on target for Yugoslavia in a 9-0 victory over Zaire in 1974. A Selecção das Quinas also became only the second team – after Hungary in 1982 – to score six second half goals in a single FIFA World Cup game. Of all the Portuguese goalscorers, perhaps the most relieved was Cristiano Ronaldo, who ended an 11-match scoring drought - his longest for the national team - stretching back 18 months. However, while Ronaldo and Co grabbed the headlines, those at the other end were equally deserving of praise, with Portugal having now kept clean sheets in ten of their last 11 matches.

FIFA World Cup goals was the milestone reached by David Villa this evening, taking him level with Spain’s all-time leading scorers at the global showpiece. The Barcelona striker’s brace saw him emulate the achievement of Emilio Butragueno, Fernando Morientes, Fernando Hierro and Raul, and he would have surpassed this illustrious quartet but for a wayward penalty – Spain’s first missed spot kick in 15 attempts at the FIFA World Cup. No nation has as much experience from the spot in this tournament as the Spanish, who have been awarded at least one penalty in each of the last eight editions.

minute and 20 seconds was all it took for FIFA World Cup debutant Humberto Suazo to pick up the tournament’s quickest booking so far. Not since Russia’s Sergey Gorlukovich was yellow carded inside the opening minute against Sweden on 24 June 1994 has the FIFA World Cup seen such a swift caution, and Suazo’s indiscretion was to set the tone for what was to follow. With ten cards shown, Chile's 1-0 win over the Swiss surpassed Germany-Serbia (nine) as South Africa’s most ill-disciplined encounter thus far. It also witnessed a FIFA World Cup landmark, with Valon Behrami earning Switzerland’s first-ever red card at the global showpiece.

source:http://www.fifa.com