RONALDO’S TOYS OFFICIALLY OUT OF PRAM AS VILLA FIRES SPAIN INTO QUARTERS‏

Second Round

SPAIN – 1 (Villa-62)

PORTUGAL – 0

A David Villa strike on 62 minutes sent Spain through to the Quarter-Finals after an exciting hour of action at the Green Point Stadium. However, despite some early promise, Portugal will have serious concerns about the desire of a team who appeared to be completely apathetic about the loss under the leadership of the uninspired and ever-petulant Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Spanish started brightly with Villa and Torres forcing three crucial, early saves from a massively impressive Eduardo who appeared to be the only one awake for Portugal in the early going.

Xavi and Iniesta re-iterated why they are perhaps the most dangerous midfield combination in world football today as their interplay seemed to open up Portugal at will. Had Villa or Torres been a second quicker to react on several occassions, then the Portuguese would have been in real trouble. More Portuguese palpitations awaited as Villa’s wayward cross nearly went the same way as Maicon’s did against North Korea. Eduardo could only watch as the ball, thankfully for him, sailed over.

Wake-up call received, Portugal set about their task and brought a frantic element to the game. It was end-to-end stuff. At one stage, Thiago’s edge of the box shot meant Casillas could only parry it into the air and was forced to punch the rebound away from a waiting Hugo Almeida. Moments later, Casillas was again forced to parry the ball after Ronaldo’s swerving free-kick from 37 yards brought another heart-in-mouth moment for Spain. The half had come full circle. The Portuguese now were creating the real chances while the Spaniards loomed but failed to make any genuine opportunities. An enticing second half awaited.

The crowd’s heart failures would continue almost immediately after the break, when Almeida’s attempt to square the ball in the 6-yard box for Ronaldo was deflected off the shin of Carlos Puyol. The ball appeared to momentarily travel in slow motion (figuratively speaking, that is, before anyone writes a letter of complaint to FIFA) as it inched over the bar. Portugal now appeared firm favourites to break the deadlock as the fist of Iker Casillas again came to the rescue when he punched away a cross from Raul Meirelles that would have surely found a waiting Ronaldo.

For their part, the Spanish appeared short on ideas up front. Vicente del Bosque opted to withdraw a broken looking Fernando Torres, who hadn’t featured beyond his first-minute test of Eduardo, in favour of World Cup debutant Llorente. The substitute appeared inspired as, within seconds, Llorente was free within the box to meet a Sergio Ramos cross. The excellent Eduardo came to the rescue again with a point blank save.

The Spanish were like a bull who had seen red. With the spring back in their step it only took a minute for them to break the deadlock. Some neat passing from Xavi and Iniesta at the edge of the box found Villa in space. Villa’s first shot was saved by the feet of Eduardo. He remained calm when the rebound landed back at his feet and, cool as you like it, chipped the ball over the unfortunate Portugal goalkeeper as it went in off the crossbar. The Spanish led and didn’t look back.

Carlos Quieroz seemed desperate to inject some fire back into the Portuguese, sending Liedson, Danny and Pedro Mendes on to give them a much-needed energy boost. It was wasted effort though. Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to disappear (into the pocket of Florentino Perez, conspiracy theorists may ponder?) as the Portuguese seemed resigned to their fate. Indeed, the Spanish appeared far more likely to add a second than their opponents were to even attempt an equaliser. Villa with the ball was akin to a dog with a bone as he desperately looked to add to his tally before being subbed to a standing ovation.

Sadly, the Portuguese exit from the World Cup was disappointing and drab. Ricardo Costa was dismissed for a soft elbow on Capdevilla. Even appealing the red card seemed to demand too much energy from his team mates at this stage. They put forth a tribute effort at the end but the necessary hunger and edge was severely lacking. Even as the final whistle blew, nobody but Eduardo appeared to be particularly distraught.

Their ‘valiant’ captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, defiantly stormed off the pitch and spat at the feet of the cameraman to illustrate whatever point he appeared determined to make. It was, put simply, a temper tantrum. And, despite their promise and attacking flare in the game against North Korea in particular, when push came to shove is it surprising that a team led by this man leave the World Cup any other way than sheepishly out the back door?

The Spanish advance to the Quarter-Finals and a fanciable draw against Paraguay. Fernando Torres is still to find his feet, but with Casillas, Villa, Xavi and Iniesta still firing on all cylinders they are still very much in contention for their first World Cup. And when your team can survive so capably with a player of Torres’ quality in such dire form…that’s an enviable situation for anyone.

Spain: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Pique, Puyol, Capdevila, Alonso (Marchena), Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Torres (Llorente), Villa (Pedro).

Subs Not Used: Valdes, Reina, Albiol, Arbeloa, Fabregas, Javi Martinez, Silva, G Jesus Navas, Mata.

Portugal: Eduardo; Alves, Costa, Carvalho, Coentrao, Meireles, Pepe (Pedro Mendes), Tiago, Ronaldo, Simao (Liedson), Almeida (Danny).

Subs Not Used: Beto, Fernandes, Ferreira, Rolando, Miguel, Duda, Veloso, Ruben Amorim, Deco.

Referee: Hector Baldassi (Argentina)