A second-half strike from fully-fit hitman David Villa helped Spain register a hard-fought 1-0 win over Portugal and set up a World Cup quarter-final meeting with Paraguay. Villa, who has recently signed for Barcelona, became a joint top scorer with a four-goal tally. Argentina's Gonzalo Higuain has netted as many goals so far in the quadrennial competition. Portugal's Ricardo Costa was controversially dismissed late in Tuesday's game after the referee fell for a Joan Capdevila trick. In the last eight Spain will face Paraguay, who went through after beating Japan 5-3 in penalty shootout earlier in the day. Pressure Spain worked on piling up pressure upfront right after the kickoff. Fernando Torres could have hit an early opener when he eluded a couple of challengers inside the area to release a powerful drive but Eduardo Carvalho parried it competently. Villa tried his luck after seven minutes in a similar fashion. Carvalho rose to prominence again to keep a clean sheet for a while.
Spain maintained their onslaught but were unable to translate their ultimate dominance into goals. On the other hand, Portugal were dangerous on the counter attack. Tiago was the first to threaten Spain when he unleashed a fierce drive midway through the first half, only to see Iker Casillas palm the ball away. Three minutes from the half-hour mark, Cristiano Ronaldo fired one of his trademark free kicks from 40 yards. An awkward save by Casillas could have cost Spain dearly. Late in the first period, Portugal took the upper hand but failed to break the deadlock. Superior Again After the interval, Spain became superior again. Portugal carved out few clear-cut opportunities early in the second period, but Spain soon tightened their grip on the match.
In a counter, Portugal's Hugo Almeida darted down his left-hand flank to penetrate the area before his chip went over the keeper and missed the target by inches. Villa hit what turned out to be the winner three minutes past the hour mark. He latched onto a Xavi Hernandez deft back-heel pass to go one-on-one with Carvalho and score on the rebound. The goal should have been disallowed as Villa was offside by centimeters. Portugal's attack notably tailed off after conceding the goal, which gave Spain the opportunity to soundly control the game. Twenty minutes from time, Sergio Ramos was about to double the European champions' lead with a low shot that was hardly denied by Carvalho. Costa received a straight red card in the dying minutes after Capdevila flagrantly pretended to be caught in the face in an off-ball challenge. TV replays showed that both players barley touched each other.
