Liechtenstein 0-4 vs. Spain – Full Time Report
As the Spanish side dominated the first half, their second half was supposed to be the same. Van Del Bosque's side was supposed to do wonders in the qualifiers and they did as they showed total domination over their opponents, Liechtenstein.
The "over working" Xavi Hernandez was taken off in the second half and it was Cesc Fabregas who took his place in the midfield. There were rumours surrounding the Spanish midfielder as many thought that he was going to be a part of Xavi's club, Barcelona but that did not happen and the Spanish number 10 remained in the English club, Arsenal.
With Fabregas on for Xavi, things started to move a bit fast as the young legs gave an extra advantage to the team. However, it was Xavi who was providing the team with amazing through balls throughout the first half. Liechtenstein also changed a few things as they brought on Vogt for Yves Oehri who actually limped out of the ground.
One thing that the Liverpool fans would be looking forward to during the match would be Fernando Torres' form. The dynamic Spanish striker was simply lost throughout the FIFA World Cup 2010 and was seen no where as he did not even manage to score a single goal in the tournament. However, he managed to bag himself a wonderful goal in the first half as he chipped the ball over the goalkeeper to help the team lead.
In the second half, he was seen out running many defenders as he managed to use his quick feet, finally. Soon, it was seen why he was considered to be one of the best strikers in the world as he scored another blaster after a pass from Iniesta was well served by him and he managed to shoot the ball right past the goalkeeper's left hand.
The goal itself was phenomenal as the commentator made a comment that "Torres is back." The Spaniard who was struggling to find his form in the English Premier League was now performing at his best and was trying to gather a few goals for himself and managed to score two today.
Soon, a few things changed for him as he was not given an option of scoring a hat trick. He was taken off for the new Manchester City record signing, David Silva. David Silva came on and played on the left wing while David Villa was deployed as a centre forward. David Silva easily found the net right after 3 minutes of running. An amazing ball from the youngster Sergio Busquets was easily taken by Silva right in front of the goal and it was all left to Silva to end the game by scoring the fourth goal. Silva managed to shoot the ball past the goalkeeper and took the score line to 4-0 for the Spaniards.
After the fourth goal, the Spaniards started to play as if they were toying with the Liechtenstein defence and they kept on passing the ball around as they did not let their opponents even make a single attack.
In the 64th minute, the young striker Pedro took Iniesta's place as the two Barcelona men were exchanged on the field. The Spanish side still had 88% of the ball as they barely let their opponents have the ball.
Iker Casillas was barely troubled throughout the match and only 1 shot had to be saved by him as the Spanish captain's defence did not really let the ball pass through them. They were playing a perfect offside trap and they did not let any player get past them as Sergio Busquets was the player who used to fall back to help the four defenders behind him.
The Spaniards kept on passing their way to their opponents' goal and they kept on trying to score goals as Torres was off and Silva was the player who took his place.
In the 86th minute, the Spaniards won a free kick and Xabi Alonso was the player who took it. Even though the Spaniard is a threat in that department, but he only managed to hit the wall and the ball went out for a corner. Fabregas took the corner and it was deflected off Gerard Pique. It was seen how a central defender was utilized in front and Gerard Pique kept on moving forward from the right flank to help his team score more goals.
In the 88th minute, the Spaniards tried to pass their way through the Liechtenstein defence again but it was Pedro who was waved offside. Even though the offside kick was taken, the Spaniards made another move forward while the fourth official waved that two minutes were to be added to full time.
It was the 90th minute of the match and the Spaniards were still attacking and another ball was passed inside the 18 yard box. Silva passed it to David Villa was who in front of an empty goal and only managed to find the cross bar.
The Spaniards won the match 4-0 as the final whistle was blown and they showed the world why they are the World Champions as they literally outplayed their opponents. Iker Casillas' girlfriend took an interview from Fernando Torres right after the match and asked him how he felt to be back and all the Spanish striker had to say was that he would like to perform the same way for his club and for his country and he would love to score more goals to help his country win another title.
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