Spanish train back on rails after triumph

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/06/2010 (5948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Back on track, if not back to their best. Just yet.

Progress is measured in small increments. OK, so it wasn’t exactly the Portuguese running riot over North Korea. Still, for those wondering if Spain’s singular brilliance has somehow been compromised, Monday has to be considered an opening rebuttal.

Pocket-sized assassin David Villa, Barcelona’s major off-season signing, set the stage for a Spain-Chile Group H first-place showdown Friday at Pretoria, scoring twice as the Euro champions easily dismissed Honduras 2-0, a score line that could have been far, far worse.

After laying siege to Switzerland and coming away empty, perhaps now, after this victory and the goals scored from the countless chances created, the Spaniards can now just settle down and begin to play the way only they can.

"They are masters on the pitch, they have matured and we faced a team who were vastly superior,” graciously conceded Honduras coach Reinaldo Rueda. "We paid dearly for the second goal and Spain never make mistakes, they are perfect in their technique and in one move they can eliminate four or five players.”

Spanish tactician Vicente Del Bosque was far from impressed, however.

"We will suffer if we continue to play like that," he promised at a post-game media conference.

"We certainly paved the way for the third group match against Chile, but this hasn’t been a great match, we had glorious opportunities, many opportunities, we should have won the game by more goals so I’m not entirely satisfied.

"We were more vulnerable than we were against Switzerland. Honduras were quite adventurous, they came out and let us play."

Villa made his intentions clear right off the hop, a long-range shot clanging off the crossbar.

Clearly in the mood to dazzle, he catapulted the Euro champions ahead in short order, on 16 minutes, with a jaw-dropping individual effort. Controlling a lofted pass out on the left flank, Villa attacked the goal, somehow shimmying through gawking defenders Sergio Mendoza and Amado Guevara, cutting hard inside a step-slow Osman Chavez and cracking a curling shot across keeper Noel Valladares and into the far top corner.

Breathtaking.

A legitimate candidate for goal of the tournament so far.

Vitally, the relaxation in the Spanish camp was visible to the naked eye. Suddenly, the old swagger had returned.

By comparison, Villa’s second was fairly mundane, accepting a cutback from Jesus Navas and shooting from the centre of the pitch, the ball glancing off the bedevilled Chavez and looping over a startled Valladares.

His hat-trick opportunity went awry from the spot, however, missing the net altogether after Navas had been hacked down inside the box.

Villa’s is the first ever missed penalty by Spain at the World Cup. They’d hit on all 13 previous attempts.

"I just missed the shot, I have been practising these kicks all my life, but I missed that one," he sighed. "We were 2-0 up at that point so there was no real pressure."

His aspirations at snagging a third weren’t over, as defender Sergio Mendoza had to charge down a late chance by the shifty striker.

For all their territorial and ball-possession domination at Ellis Park, there’s still a goodly amount of work to be done for the Spanish to get ready for sternest tests in the knockout phase (barring a shock and they don’t qualify at all). First and foremost, getting Fernando Torres feeling good about himself again. The season an ongoing misery for the Liverpool star due to a knee injury, he failed to take two glorious first-half chances.

— Canwest News Service

Spain 1 1 — 2

Honduras 0 0 — 0

First Half

1. Spain, David Villa 1, 17th minute.

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Second Half

2. Spain, David Villa 2, 51st.

Shots — Spain: 21; Honduras: 9.

Shots On Goal — Spain: 6; Honduras: 0.

Attendance — 54,386.