Villa and Spain bow out on a high
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, June 24, 2014
|
|
|
David Villa brought the curtain down on a glorious international career by scoring a wonder goal that helped Spain end a forgettable FIFA World Cup campaign with a 3-0 win over Australia in Curitiba. |
Dedending Champion Spain finished their third and final 2014 World Cup match on Monday, beating Australia 3-0 to end the trip in Brazil, which shouldn't have been so short.
David Villa, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata scored for the winner of the last World Cup. Villa was selected as the Man of the Match.
It was a dominating match for Spain, who spent 56 percent of the match time keeping the ball in possession.
Spain finished third with the three points they got from Monday's match, following the nine-point Netherland and six-point Chile.
"This Spanish team has a bright future no matter who will become the next coach," said Spain head coach Vicente del Bosque, who would need a negotiation with Spanish Football Federation to decide whether to remain on the coaching place.
"There are plenty of young talents in the team."
The Australians finished their first pointless World Cup, but the performance of the veteran duo Tim Cahill and Mark Bresciano was impressive enough for TVs and newspapers.
"I'm unsatisfied with the three straight losses," said Australian coach Ange Postecoglou.
"We did well in the first 15 minutes, but after that I think the players got tired."
As of the 5 June rankings, Spain were the top side going into the World Cup, and Australia were the lowest ranked of the 32 teams at Brazil 2014. However, both team had said farewell to Brazil before the match.
Australian fans occupied Arena Da Baixada, and Australia started the match with a couple of threatening shot from Adam Taggart and Matthew Leckie.
Spain responded fast with their speed, but none of the plays resulted in shots until a strike from Santi Cazorla was blocked by Australian defense.
In the 21st minute, Iniesta worked an opening on the right of the Australian box and chipped the ball to the far post. David Villa hit a shot wide but it would not count anyway because he was offside.
Jordi Alba found himself in a one-on-one position against Aussie goalkeeper Mat Ryan in the 23rd minute, but Ryan kept concentrated and resisted the shot.
Spain started to dominate the field in the later part of the first half, and David Villa finished a goal in the 36th minute. Iniesta's pass found unguarded Juanfran behind the Aussie defensive line. Juanfran cut into the box and crossed the ball to Villa. The veteran forward had plenty of time and space, backheeling the ball into the net.
In the 46th minute, Cazorla chipped the ball towards the target, but the effort was cleared by Ryan.
Australia couldn't find any good chance in counter attack, and the first half ended with Spain leading 1-0.
Spain continued with the pressure on Aussie defense in the second half. Juan Mata replaced Villa in the 56th minute.
Quite unlike the terse opening to the match, the second half had seen both sides attack and counter-attack several times in the beginning. Mckay finished a shot outside the box in the 59th minute, but his attempt flew beyond the bar.
Iniesta sent another great pass in the 69th minute, when Fernando Torres shot the ball past Ryan and change the score to 2-0.
34-year-old Bresciano replaced Bozanic in the 73rd minute, and he won the applause of the fans in yellow jersey. It was possibly the last World Cup match for the 34-year-old veteran.
The third goal of Spain came in the 82nd minute. Mata picked up the pass from Fabregas, and the Manchester United man pushed the ball through Ryan's legs to reach the target.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)