Saturday, 3rd July 2010
Villa in Spain
Paraguay vs Spain
in Jo'burg Ellis Park
Paraguay or Spain for a semi-final meeting with Germany.
Iker Casillas showed a slight lack of concentration in the seventh
minute but for the first twenty minutes nothing really seemed to take shape.
Paraguay did enough to contain Spain, before thinking about maybe
moving forward a little themselves.
Fernando Torres almost woke up in the 27th minute, then once in the
Paraguay area with two defenders Torres didn't seem to believe that he moved so well and
the opportunity was lost. Xavi then watched his own shot float past the target.
Paraguay's closest attempt was when Jonathan Santana failed to get his
head on Morel's long ball, and a goal disallowed for offside.
Paraguay deserved to be in front, just about; mainly because Spain
didn't.
Half-time: 0:0
Spain continued to pass poorly at the start of the second-half; so
much so that Vicente del Bosque decided to bring on the master passer Cesc Fabregas, for
the ineffective Fernando Torres.
Then a few minutes of drama as Carlos Batres gave both teams the
chance for a little penalty practise: Iker Casillas saved from Oscar Cardozo; then at the
other end Justo Villar saved from Xabi Alonso, at the second attempt. Spain could have had
another penalty in the melee that followed the save.
It took a while coming but even the goal was hysterical as Iniesta
laid the groundwork for Pedro Rodriguez to hit the ball onto the post. David Villa's
follow up shot also hit the post before settling in the back of the net.
Final Score:
Paraguay 0 Spain 1
 Goalscorers:
0:1 David Villa (83 mins)
Man of The Match:
David Villa - Spain wouldn't be in the semi-final for the first time in their history
without him.
Teams
 Paraguay:
1 Justo Villar; 3 Claudio Morel Rodriguez, 21 Antolin Alcaraz, 14 Paulo Da Silva, 2 Dario
Veron; 16 Cristian Riveros, 15 Victor Caceres, 8 Edgar Barreto; 7 Oscar Cardozo, 18 Nelson
Haedo Valdez, 11 Jonathan Santana.
 Spain:
1 Iker Casillas; 11 Joan Capdevila, 5 Carles Puyol, 3 Gerard Pique, 15 Sergio Ramos; 14
Xabi Alonso, 16 Sergio Busquets, 8 Xavi; 9 Fernando Torres, 7 David Villa, 6 Andres
Iniesta.
Referee:
Carlos Batres (Guatemala)
Substitutions:
56 Mins (Spain) - 10 Cesc Fabregas on for 9 Fernando Torres
64 Mins (Paraguay) - 13 Enrique Vera on for 8 Edgar Barreto
73 Mins (Paraguay) - 9 Roque Santa Cruz on for 18 Nelson Valdez
75 Mins (Spain) - 18 Pedro Rodriguez on for 14 Xabi Alonso
84 Mins (Spain) - 4 Carlos Marchena on for 5 Carles Puyol
84 Mins (Paraguay) - 19 Lucas Barrios on for 15 Victor Caceres
 6 Yellow
Cards:
57 Mins - Gerard Pique (Spain)
59 Mins - Antolin Alcaraz (Paraguay)
65 Mins - Sergio Busquets (Spain)
65 Mins - Victor Caceres (Paraguay)
71 Mins - Claudio Morel Rodriguez (Paraguay)
88 Mins - Jonathan Santana (Paraguay)
 0 Red Cards.
Previous Encounters:
Spain beat Paraguay (3:1) in a Jeonju group match at Korea-Japan 2002.
The two teams drew (0:0) in a St. Etienne group match at France 1998.
To the Semi-final in Durban.
2010 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
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