Spain 4 - 0 Armenia
David Villa scored twice as Spain maintained their 100 per cent start to the World Cup qualifiers and kept the feel good factor very much intact in Albacete.
Joan Capdevila opened the home team's account before the Valencia forward netted a brace and Marcos Senna hit a superb strike towards the end in what was a commanding performance from Vicente del Bosque's side.
After being criticised for having too much trouble breaking down Bosnia at the weekend, the new Spain coach changed things around slightly and the new system was more effective.
In the game at the weekend, the team's reliance on wingplay did not go down well while Diego Capel was singled out for hogging the ball and breaking up moves.
There were no such difficulties against Armenia as Spain produced a flowing display that bore several fruitful chances for not only the forward but the majority of the midfield too.
Santi Cazorla was drafted in to play on the right while Adnrés Iniesta switched to the left, but the Villarreal playmaker began by becoming a third body in the centre.
The visitors did sit back, but it was not exactly the catenaccio style defending that many expected and Iker Casillas had his fair share of saves to make in a game where he was tipped to have none.
It took just seven minutes of pressure for Spain to settle any nerves that could have existed and set them up for a game that a full house in the Estadio Carlos Belmonte.
A defence-splitting pass down the left of the area found Capdevila in an advanced position, and on side and he controlled before firing the ball past the keeper.
Villa then saw Roman Berezovsky tip away a drive before the striker began to try a few tricks that none of the Armenian back four were going to fall for, but that changed when he was presented with a direct effort in teh 15th minute.
Iniesta's shot was blocked and the ball fell to Villa who stroked it across a defender and past the keeper into the far corner of the net.
One of the busiest spells of the game came just after the half-hour mark when Villa spurned a hat-trick of chances at one end while Arthur Voskanyan fired just over Iker Casillas' bar at the other.
Spain resumed their dominance at the start of the second period, but it was not until after all three changes had been made that further goals were scored.
Bojan Krkick was given a warm ovation as he made his first team debut to put an end ot any talk that he could be yet tempted to play for Serbia, his father's nation.
While the Barça youngster had a number of touches it was Villa that showed him how to play up front at the highest level with a fine finish with eleven minutes remaining.
But it was Senna that shook the stadium with Spain's fourth goal in the 82nd minute when he took aim and beat the keeper from 25 yards out with a stunning drive.
It was a good finish to a game that will have encouraged Del Bosque and maintained the celebratory feel around the Spanish team after their exploits at Euro 2008.
0 comments:
Post a Comment