Spain earned its record 15th straight victory Saturday with a 2-0 win over South Africa, a result which allowed the host nation to scrape into the Confederations Cup semi-finals along with the European champions. Moments after missing a penalty, David Villa took a high cross on the chest in the 52nd minute and with perfect control, turned and shot past Itumeleng Khune with an angled shot.
In a goalmouth scramble off a cross from Xavi Hernandez, striker Fernando Llorente added a second goal in the 72nd. South Africa and its fans were dependent on the score in the other Group A game between Iraq and New Zealand. The 0-0 result unleashed huge celebrations among the 38,212 fans at the Free State Stadium.
Spain won Group A with nine points, while South Africa is second with four. Iraq finished with two and New Zealand earned one. "The important thing is we go to the semi-finals," Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana said. "It is important for the players. It is important for the people."
Since a big loss could possibly have eliminated South Africa, Bafana Bafana was all too pleased to see when Spain coach Vicente del Bosque pulled off Villa and fellow striker Fernando Torres in the 60th, dulling Spain's fabled forward thrust. The opening goal was Villa's 31st in his 47th appearance. He trails only Raul Gonzalez's mark of 44 goals from 102 matches.
Even though Spain dominated with skill and grace, it was South Africa which kept pushing, chasing down balls and hustling opponents throughout the match to make sure the tournament turned into a motivational boost ahead of the World Cup.
The victory gave Spain one more win than Brazil had in separate runs in 1969 and 1970. Spain also matched Brazil's record 35-match unbeaten run, a streak set between 1993-96. "We are very proud what we have achieved and we will maintain our performance to win more trophies," said Xavi, who was voted Man of the Match. "The objective is to continue our road to more victories."
The Spanish haven't lost a game since 2006, winning last year's European Championship along the way as it was propelled to the top of FIFA's rankings _ 71 places above South Africa. With such stakes, Del Bosque didn't rest his top players even though the team had already qualified. After some Spanish players had criticised the use of the blaring vuvuzela horns, the fans made sure they rang in their ears for most of the match.