Despite arriving as the tournament favorites, it’s been a string of hard-fought matches for Spain at the 2010 World Cup. With today’s 1-0 win over Paraguay, Spain advances to the World Cup semifinals for the first time in 60 years.
Spain’s lone goal came in 83rd minute, when David Villa pounded a shot from inside the box that ricocheted off both posts before hitting the back of the net.
The most exciting part of the game, however, came off back-to-back penalty kicks and misses. During a corner kick, Spain’s Gerardo Pique took down Paraguay’s Oscar Cardozo, earning Pique a yellow card. Cardozo then failed to score on the penalty kick as Spain goalie Iker Casillas came through for the save. One play later Villa was racing downfield and looked as if he would break the tie. He was soon fouled by Antolin Alcoraz, who notched a yellow card as well. Xabi Alonso then took the penalty kick. And missed.
Unbelievable. Both teams looked evenly matched and looked headed to overtime. Villa, however, finally scored after a bit of fine passing by the Spanish side, sending his team toward a match with Germany in the semifinals.
