25.06.2010 22:37
Villa and Iniesta send Spain through
www.fcbarcelona.cat
Spain have beaten Chile 2-1 with both goals coming from Barça players, first David Villa and then Andres Iniesta. The win means Del Bosque’s side finishes top of Group H and face Portugal in the next round.
Spain had been up against it ever since losing to Switzerland in the first game, but back-to-back
wins mean they finish top of their group and in doing so avoid a second round meeting with Brazil.
That honour will instead correspond to tonight’s victims, Chile, who finished second thanks
to Switzerland’s goalless draw with Honduras.
Six from Barça
And
again there were Barça players at the heart of the matter. Of the eight players FCB has in the
squad, only Valdés and Pedro were not involved tonight. Puyol and Piqué once again commanded the
centre back roles, Xavi and Iniesta were the central playmakers, and David Villa was providential
in attack.
The other Barça representative was Sergio Busquets. There may have been some doubts when
Vicente Del Bosque included him in his starting eleven for the first game with Switzerland, but the
midfielder is certainly proving his critics wrong. He posted yet another exquisite display against
Chile and is turning out to be one of the revelations of the Spanish squad.
Spain struggled to find their grip early on, and Chile provided several scares before David
Villa, somewhat against the run of play, provided the opener. Chile keeper Bravo came way off his
line to deal with a Fernando Torres run, but sent the ball straight to the new Barça signing. From
a good 40 metres out and a difficult angle, Villa directed the ball into an empty net. That goal
means he ends up level with Argentina’s Higuain at the top of the group stage scoring charts.
Iniesta makes it two
Villa
became the provider ten minutes later when he supplied a pass on the edge of the area to Iniesta
who expertly converted to put Spain into what seemed to be a comfortable 2-0 lead. The referee
rather harshly adjudged Chile’s Estrada to have tripped Torres as part of the same move, and
the South Americans were reduced to ten men.
Spain were caught napping two minutes after the half-time interval, and a Millar strike
deflected off Piqué and past Casillas to pull one back for the Chileans. It looked like we were in
for an electric second half but sadly it proved to be anything but.
Good result for both
News started filtering through that Switzerland were still being held by Honduras. That
result suited the interests of both sides, and as long as things stayed that way, ten-man Chile had
no intention of taking unnecessary risks. The Spaniards were left nonchalantly passing the ball
around while Chile did next to nothing to chase them down.
A duller end to a match you will rarely see, but the result was just what Spain needed and
means they now face Portugal on Tuesday 29 at 20.30 (CET).
Match details
Chile, 1
Spain, 2
Chile: Bravo, Ponce, Isla, Sánchez (Orellana, min65’) Vidal, Valdivia
(Paredes, min46) M.González (Milar, min 47), Estrada (red cardt, min 37), Beausejour, Medel and
Jara.
Spain: Casillas, Piqué, Puyol, Iniesta, Villa, Xavi, Torres (Cesc, min 55)
Capdevila, Xabi Alonso (J.Martínez, min), S.Ramos and Sergio Busquets.
Goals:
0-1. Villa, 24’
0-2. Iniesta, 37’
1-2. Millar, 47’
Referee: Marco Antonio Rodríguez