FCBARCELONA.CAT

21.06.2010 22:33

Villa puts Spain back on course (2-0)

www.fcbarcelona.cat

New FC Barcelona signing David Villa scored both goals as Spain made up for opening day defeat to Switzerland by seeing off Honduras 2-0. Vicente del Bosque named five Barça players in his starting line up.

The win means that Spain will qualify for the last sixteen as long as they beat Chile in Pretoria on Friday.

Barça in defence, midfield and attack

Barça supplied almost half the Spanish side that beat Honduras, with Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué once against marshalling from the centre back positions, Sergio Busquets and Xavi combining in midfield, and David Villa partnering Liverpool’s Fernando Torres up front as Del Bosque reverted to a two-striker system.

David Villa was the hero of the night, putting Spain in front by topping off a dazzling 17th minute run with a bombastic strike into the top right hand corner of the goal. But he could already have opened his account in the sixth minute when he rifled a long-range shot onto the bar.

Spain were in total command from start to finish, and there was more magic to come from Villa’s boots in the second half when he latched onto a pass from FCB team-mate Xaxi to slam the ball home from far out – the ball taking a lucky deflection off a Honduran defender on the way.

No hat trick number 50 for Villa

However, Villa squandered a golden opportunity to score what would have been the 50th hat trick in World Cup history. Navas was clearly tripped in the area, and the referee rightly awarded a penalty, but Villa narrowly sent his spot-kick wide. Another excellent chance fell to the Asturian late in the game, but Honduras defender Sergio Mendoza managed to get his body in the way before Villa could tap home from close range.

Credit must also go to Piqué, already wearing a bandage from the Switzerland game, and who was caught in the mouth by a stray Honduran boot. With a second bandage stuffed in his mouth to contain the flow of blood from what would appear to have been a lost tooth, the Catalan bravely soldiered on.

Spain never really looked troubled tonight, but there will be some concern that the almost relentless onslaught on the Honduras didn’t produce a win of a bigger margin. Against stronger sides, such charity in front of goal may prove costly.

Friday on their minds

As it stands, and coupled with Chile’s 1-0 win over the Swiss earlier in the day, Spain now know they are assured qualification as long as they beat Chile in their final match. Anything other than a win and they will be depending on the outcome of the game between Switzerland and Honduras, while the final positions will be determined on goal difference.