David Villa: Spain’s Killer!
David Villa: Spain’s Killer!
By Dominic Vieira, writing from Lisbon
It was not Spain’s best performance, even their manager Del Bosque recognised that. David Villa made the difference tonight scoring the only goal in the 82nd minute which put Spain in the semi-finals for the first time in their history!
It was an encounter with few scoring opportunities, where tactics and strength played a major role. Spain’s offensive plays were continuously broken down by a solid Paraguayan defence, they were finding it incredibly hard to pass the ball in the final sector of the field; the frustration was clear amongst the Spanish players. The emotion and intensity was high throughout the match, both teams wanted to win from the first to final whistle.
Despite Spain’s dominance, Paraguay had the chance to open the scoring in the 58th minute after Pique pulled Cardozo’s arm in the box. The Benfica striker is a specialist in penalties, but Casillas defended it. After the match the Spain captain confessed Reina told him which side Cardozo shoots his penalties.
