Spain 1 Portugal 0 - David Villa once again the hero as Spain reach quarter-finals
David Villa(credit:
Wikipedia)
Yet again, David Villa was the hero for Spain as he shot down fierce rivals Portugal to set up a World Cup quarter-final clash with Paraguay.
Having survived an early Spanish assault, Portugal had the better chances for almost 40 minutes but they failed to take their chances and were ultimately punished by Villa, who became the first man to score against them at the tournament.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque stood by out-of-sorts striker Fernando Torres, and was almost rewarded for his faith inside 70 seconds.
Torres cut inside from the left and forced a fine, flying save from Eduardo with a curling effort that was threatening to creep in at the far post.
Spain were looking menacing and it was David Villa’s turn to cause trouble down the same flank, twice moving inside to test the Portuguese goalkeeper with fine efforts.
Xavi then linked up with Torres on a well-executed corner routine but the Liverpool man could not keep his shot down.
Anyone who thought Spain were going to soon break the deadlock were wrong as Portugal took control and created the better chances for the rest of the opening half.
Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas almost pushed a Tiago strike into his own net but managed to scoop the ball away while under pressure from Hugo Almeida.
Casillas’ handling again caused concern in the Spain penalty area when he fumbled a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick that dipped viciously at the last moment, but Gerard Pique was on hand to thump the ball clear.
Raul Meireles then whipped in a cross from the left-hand side but Almeida, arriving late in the area, wasted his chance by heading wide of the target.
And, in the final chance of the half, Portugal broke from a Spain corner but Casillas reacted quickly to race out of his goal and beat Simao to the ball.
Almeida’s deflected cross almost went in before Spain suddenly came to life on the hour, and substitute Fernando Llorente should have opened the scoring with a diving header, but poor technique gave Eduardo the chance to beat the ball away.
Villa then sent a warning when he cut in from the left and whipped a curling shot just wide a minute later, but within 60 seconds he did have his fourth goal of the tournament.
Some neat passing on the edge of the area opened holes in the Portugal defence and Villa sprinted into the box to collect a slide rule pass. His initial shot was blocked by Eduardo, but the Barcelona star made sure the rebound hit the back of the net.
Eduardo came to his side’s rescue with 20 minutes remaining, throwing himself across the face of his goal to tip wide Sergio Ramos’ powerful drive.
At the other end Casillas was enjoying a quiet night as Portugal offered very little despite needing a goal to keep their World Cup dream alive, with Ronaldo cutting an increasingly frustrated figure due to the lack of support and service he was receiving.
Villa almost added a second with 12 minutes remaining, cracking a 25-year strike that appeared destined for the top corner until Eduardo palmed the ball to safety.
And Llorente could have got on the scoresheet in the closing momentsby meeting a wonderfully flighted Villa cross, but the Spain striker’s glancing header went agonisingly wide.
But Portugal were well and truly on their way out of the competition and Ricardo Costa’s red card, for an apparent elbow on Joan Capdevila, capped a disappointing night.
Spain: Casillas, Pique, Puyol, A Iniesta, David Villa (Pedro 88), Xavi, Torres (Llorente 58), Capdevila, Alonso (C Marchena 90), Ramos, Sergio.
Goal: Villa 63
Portugal: Eduardo, B Alves, R Carvalho, Ronaldo, Simao (Liedson 72), Pepe (P Mendes 72), R Meireles, H Almeida (Danny 58), Tiago, R Costa, F Coentrao.
Bookings: Alonso (Spain), Tiago (Portugal)
Red Card: R Costa (Portugal)