The Spanish fans were rightfully worried after their narrow one goal wins against USA and Peru.
The expectations were low coming in, and Spain had only won one major trophy. However, a 3-0 victory over a strong Russian team will do a lot good for moral and expectations. David Villa was not going to be in Aragones' plans, but the two poor results against Peru and USA forced him to start Villa and Torres. Villa and Torres were a winning combination it turned out, and Aragones looks like a genius. Villa recorded the first hat-trick of the tournament against Russia. His sublime finishing skills were extraordinary, and he almost single handedly torched the Russian defense.
Spain's first goal was courtesy or some great Torres work. Torres took a long ball and beat his man. He pushed the ball by the keeper to the streaking Villa alongside him, and Villa didn't miss the open net.
Villa again made a great run and finished, virtually eliminating the Russia's chances of gaining some points. Iniesta received the ball on a counter attack, and made space with some smart dribbles. He played a ball behind the Russians to Villa, who made no mistakes. He calmly put the ball under an onrushing Igor Akinfeev.
The Russians were affectively buried at half-time, but Villa would not give up. In the 75th minute, Villa took a long ball, fooled his defender on a great cutback, and finished perfectly to the near post. Villa went to the bench and hugged his strike partner Fernando Torres, who had just been subbed.
Russia still didn't give up, and scored a conselation goal in the 86th minute. Zyryanov crossed it in off a corner. It was flicked on to a wide open Pavluchenko on the back post. Pavluchenko didn't miss from 4 yards and sent a screaming header into the night.
Spain got the final word though, as Villa turned to provider. He stole a long ball and played it over the top of the defense to a streaking Cazorla who vollied hard. It was parried right into an onrushing Cesc Fabregas, and his diving header capped the night off on a fantastic note.
Spanish fans should be absolutely giddy about this result, and for once, Aragones got it right. Spain played a more complete game than even The Dutch did against Italy. If Spain can play like this for the rest of the tournament, they will be the champions, without a doubt.
No comments:
Post a Comment