FCBARCELONA.CAT

25.06.2010 22:37

Villa and Iniesta send Spain through

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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).