[1]Red-hot David Villa scored his fourth goal of the World Cup to fire European champions Spain past Iberian arch-rivals Portugal 1-0 on Tuesday and into quarterfinal clash against Paraguay.
The Barcelona striker pounced in the 63rd minute of an absorbing encounter that saw plenty of chances and Portugal’s Ricardo Costa sent off, chipping a rebound over goalkeeper Eduardo after his first shot was saved.
In a stadium packed to the rafters, Spain quickly signalled their intentions with Torres testing Eduardo with a shot from the edge of the box in the opening minute.
The goalkeeper did well to fist it away and he was in action again soon after with Villa cutting in from the left and fizzing a shot on target.
Portugal were all over the place and Villa rifled another goal-bound in the sixth minute, with Eduardo to the rescue again. It was impressive stuff from Spain, who were playing the slick passing game they are so good at.
Portugal’s record of not conceding a goal in South Africa was looking decidedly shaky and Xavi troubled them again by turning and whipping a shot over the bar from a quickly taken corner.
After weathering the early storm, Portugal finally got a look in when Tiago blasted a shot from distance, with Iker Casillas pushing the ball in the air. It was finely poised and Portugal almost broke the deadlock early in the second half when Carlos Puyol got his knee in the way of a Almeida cross and it looped over Casillas’ head and shaved the post.
The match started opening up but it was game over for Liverpool’s Torres, who was hauled off after 58 minutes with Fernando Llorente replacing him.
Llorente seemed to spark Spain into life and seconds later Villa saw a powerful shot squirm past the post before the striker demonstrated why he is one of the best in the business.
— AFP
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