Villa scores off own rebound to carry Spain to quarterfinals

Scoring Summary

Spain	Portugal
David Villa (63')

Match Stats

Spain

Portugal

19(10)	Shots (on Goal)	9(3)
13	Fouls	18
6	Corner Kicks	3
0	Offsides	3
61%	Time of Possession	39%
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	1
3	Saves	9

Match Information

Stadium:	Green Point Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa
Attendance:
Match Time:	14:30 ET
Official(s):	Héctor Baldassi

Teams

Spain	Portugal
1 Iker Casillas	1 Eduardo
5 Carles Puyol	2 Bruno Alves
3 Gerard Piqué	6 Ricardo Carvalho
11 Joan Capdevila	23 Fábio Coentrão
15 Sergio Ramos	21 Ricardo Costa
16 Sergio Busquets	15 Pepe
14 Xabi Alonso	16 Raul Meireles
8 Xavi	19 Tiago
7 David Villa	11 Simão
9 Fernando Torres	18 Hugo Almeida
6 Andrés Iniesta	7 Cristiano Ronaldo
Substitutes
4 Carlos Marchena	Deco 20
23 Pepe Reina	Miguel 13
12 Victor Valdés	Paulo Ferreira 3
22 Jesús Navas	Duda 5
10 Cesc Fábregas	Daniel Fernandes 22
2 Raúl Albiol	Miguel Veloso 14
17 Álvaro Arbeloa	Liédson 9
21 David Silva	Ruben Amorim 17
19 Fernando Llorente	Pedro Mendes 8
20 Javi Martínez	Rolando 4
13 Juan Mata	Beto 12
18 Pedro	Danny 10
Substitutions
Fernando Llorente for Fernando Torres (59)	Danny for Hugo Almeida (59)
Pedro for David Villa (88)	Pedro Mendes for Pepe (72)
Carlos Marchena for Xabi Alonso (90)	Liédson for Simão (72)
Yellow Cards
Xabi Alonso (74)	Tiago (80)
Red Cards
	Ricardo Costa (89)
· Rosters: Spain | Portugal

Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- David Villa called it one of his best goals.

He was talking about the timing but the effort was pretty nice, too.

More from ESPN.com

No team plays the beautiful game better than Spain, which cut down Portugal with sublime passing and one cool finish to reach the quarterfinals, writes Jeff Bradley. Story

Xavi and David Villa got top marks for Spain in the squad's Round of 16 matchup, while Portugal's midfield severely underwhelmed, writes Jeff Carlisle. Grades

On a night when Portugal's defense fought off attack after attack, the Spanish striker finally broke through in the 63rd minute, giving the European champs a 1-0 victory Tuesday and a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals.

Villa took Xavi Hernandez's heel pass and struck a left-footed shot that was saved by Portuguese goalkeeper Eduardo.

He then fired the rebound with his right foot off the underside of the crossbar and into the net -- his fourth goal of the tournament -- sprinted to the near corner and slid on his knees to the flag, letting out a mighty yell.

"It was one of my best goals because it got us through to the next round," Villa said. "Keep scoring so we can keep going."

Spain plays Paraguay in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

While Villa is tied for the lead in scoring at the World Cup, it was a disappointing tournament for Cristiano Ronaldo, the world's most expensive player. His only goal came late in Portugal's 7-0 rout of North Korea in group play, and he had a quiet night against Spain.

Spain's team page

For more about Spain and its chances in South Africa this summer, click here.

His best attempt Tuesday came from a free kick in the 28th minute when he launched the ball from 35 yards with such a dipping swerve that all Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas could do was block it with his body and see the ball bounce free.

Otherwise, Portugal could rely little on its captain. As he was pointing left and right where his teammates should go, he often walked.

This was the 33rd time the Iberian neighbors have met in soccer, but the first time in the World Cup. Spain has won 16 of the matches to Portugal's five.

Portugal went out of the tournament after conceding its first goal in four games.

"To lose by one goal in a championship hurts very badly," Eduardo said.

Game Notes

• Spain reaches the quarterfinals for the third time in five World Cups and will face Paraguay on Saturday in Johannesburg.

• David Villa scores his fourth goal of the tournament in the 63rd minute, tying him for the tournament lead with Slovakia's Robert Vittek and Argentina's Gonzalo Higuaín.

• It was the first goal allowed by Portugal in this World Cup and only the second allowed in its last 13 games overall.

• Ten Spanish players had more touches than Cristiano Ronaldo's 34, which is significantly below his average of 51 over the first three games. Ronaldo has just 11 touches in the second half.

• Sergio Busquets put together one of the best passing performances in Spain's World Cup history. The midfielder completed 97 of his 102 passes (95.1 percent), the highest percentage of any Spaniard who attempted at least 85 passes in a match since 1966. He also ranks seventh of any player during that same time. Spain's passing accuracy is 88.6 percent at this World Cup, which is the fourth-highest at a single World Cup since 1966.

• Only three European teams are in the final eight, fewest in World Cup history.

-- ESPN Stats & Information

The game came two years to the day that Spain ended 44 years of international futility by winning the European title. The last defending European champ to also capture the World Cup was West Germany in 1974.

"The match was extremely intense," Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said. "In the second half, we were better than Portugal. We had greater depth in our play, and we controlled the game very well."

Spain was about teamwork, and it showed from the start. Fernando Torres and Villa immediately moved down the left, looking to exploit Portugal's defensive weakness at right back, where Ricardo Costa struggled. Within the first seven minutes, Eduardo had to make three quality saves to keep Portugal in the game on angled shots from Spain's two strikers.

"His performance was brilliant," Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz said of his goalkeeper. "He saved and kept the team fighting for the result."

Yet Spain moved on to an intricate passing game through the center of the field. Once Portugal's defense settled in it frustrated the Spanish, reducing them to long-range attempts by Gerard Pique.

Still, Villa knew a goal was coming.

"We never lost our confidence," Villa said. "We know the potential we have and what we can give."