David Villa strike secures Spain QF spot
Newly signed Barca striker, David Villa continued his red-hot goal scoring streak with the solitary winning goal against Portugal. Portugal as done in their previous matches against quality opponents parked the bus, but still failed to keep David Villa quiet. But this match highlighted more problems for Spain's coach Del Bosque. It was one of the better performances by Spanish side, but still the form of Xavi and Torres is still a worrying factor for Spain. Spain will meet Paraguay in the Quarter Finals after the latter had seen off Japan in the first penalty shoot-out of the World Cup.
The Portugal-Spain clash looked like going in the Paraguay-Japan match's way. But a spirited performance following the substitution of Torres for Llorente saw Spain doing enough to beat the Portugese. As I have written in the Spain World Cup Preview, Xavi is the heart of this Spanish side. The failure of the Barca Maestro to impose himself is making it difficult for Spain. Xavi is not having any bad game, but by his standards the performance so far is average. The only consistent performer for Spain is David Villa, who has taken up the goal scoring duty and Iniesta. Iniesta needs to be encouraged to take more shots and run at the defense. He is one player who can increase the speed of Spanish attack, an they hell need that. The defnsive set up is getting caught up too often, especially Puyol and Capedevilla. May be it's time to look for other options than Capedevilla.
But there is a bigger decision for Del Bosque to make at this moment. Its most probably to bench Torres for the forth coming match and play Llorente instead. Llorente looks to be in the same mould of Torres, so free David Villa more. But the coach has to make the call soon, as Torres is seriously struggling on the pitch.
Fuente: All About FC Barcelona
