World Cup Second Round
| Spain 1 | |
|---|---|
| Portugal 0 |
David Villa celebrates after scoring the only goal against Portugal. Photograph: Oliver Weiken/EPA
Spain's record in the World Cup has been a source of embarrassment for longer than they will care to remember but, for this esteemed old football nation, there is now the chance to venture into new territory. They won this match with another demonstration of David Villa's qualities inside the penalty area and if they can beat Paraguay on Saturday they will have reached the semi-finals for the first time.
Villa's fourth goal of this World Cup came 63 minutes into an evening in which their football was not at their most sublime but sophisticated enough to reveal themselves as a side of class and achievement and expose the gulf with their opponents. Portugal did not show enough wit and adventure to make it the classic that had been hoped for and Carlos Queiroz's team did not go out of the competition with great dignity.
In the final moments Ricardo Costa earned a red card for a flailing arm into the face of Joan Capdevila and, as Cristiano Ronaldo sloped off the pitch after the final whistle, he registered his disapproval about being followed by a cameraman by spitting near enough for it to be seen as deliberate. Later, when asked for his thoughts on why Portugal had gone out of the competition, he replied pointedly: "Ask Queiroz."
The worst indictment for Ronaldo is that it was the only memorable moment that could be attributed to him. For long spells he was only on the edges of this match and, when he comes to looking back over his World Cup, it will mostly be with regret at a poor tournament for him individually, regardless of the man-of-the-match awards that generously came his way in the group stages. Before the kick-off there was a moment when he held out his arms, tilted back his head and looked up to the skies as if it to request divine intervention. A great camera shot, but none came.
Instead it was a night when Spain demonstrated that even when they are not at their penetrative best they can pierce the most obdurate of defences. Portugal had kept a clean sheet in 20 of their previous 25 matches under Queiroz and were one of only two sides not to concede a goal – Uruguay being the other – in the group stages. Ricardo Carvalho has had a splendid tournament whereas Fabio Coentrão has probably been the most impressive left-back on view in South Africa.
The Spanish tactic was a familiar one: maintaining possession, using the ball quickly and accurately, trying to find the killer pass for Villa or Fernando Torres. Yet, two years to the night since his goal vanquished Germany in the Euro 2008 final, this was to be another chastening experience for Torres, culminating in his withdrawal after 59 minutes and the Liverpool player making his way to the touchline with a facial expression of near-revulsion. The decision was greeted with whistles from the Spanish fans but Torres had faded after an encouraging start and his form has generally been shabby. Villa's brilliance inside the penalty area brings more focus on his team-mate's current inadequacies.
In terms of a spectacle, the match was a disappointment – not a huge one, but a disappointment all the same given the number of implausibly gifted footballers on show, certainly when compared with that game in Euro 2004 when the two sides conjured up one of the more exhilarating 90 minutes to be witnessed in modern-day tournament football.
Spain had begun well, Torres and Villa both testing the Portuguese goalkeeper Eduardo with diagonal shots, but it was not until the second half when Vicente del Bosque's men took command properly and it was in their first spell of concerted pressure that they scored their goal.
Torres had been off the pitch only a couple of minutes when his replacement, Fernando Llorente, aimed a header too close to Eduardo from six yards out, but the pressure on Eduardo's goal was growing. Within two minutes Andrés Iniesta flicked a wonderfully measured reverse pass into Xavi's path and this conjuror of a footballer applied the deftest of touches to back-heel the ball into Villa's path. It was the most incisive move of the match and, in an instant, Villa was through on goal for the first time. His first effort was saved but the rebound came back to him and was struck more forcibly, going over Eduardo and into the roof of the net.
The response from Portugal was surprising. It was now that they had to play with a greater sense of ambition and that Ronaldo ought to have become a more telling influence. Instead, their challenge faded out without any prolonged assault on the Spain goal.
Ronaldo had a couple of free-kicks straight at Iker Casillas in the first half and Tiago had also extended the goalkeeper with a 20-yard shot but there were only sporadic moments in the second half when they threatened to get back into the match. Spain eased themselves to the final whistle. They have got that improbable defeat to Switzerland out of their system and, with the exception of Torres, everything is beginning to click.
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