Hosts South Africa were indebted to New Zealand as they reached the Confederations Cup semi-finals for the first time on Saturday.
Bafana Bafana (The Boys) crashed 2-0 to Spain, who were winning for a world record 15th consecutive time, but held on to second spot because challengers Iraq were held 0-0 by New Zealand in a match played simultaneously.
Title favorites Spain completed the three-match Group A schedule with a maximum nine points, followed by South Africa with four and Iraq with two, while New Zealand claimed their first point in three tournament appearances.
South Africa goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune thought he had got the perfect 22nd birthday present when he saved a penalty by Spain’s David Villa, only to be beaten by the same striker a minute later. Substitute Fernando Llorente added a second on 72 minutes as the class of the European champions told before a sell-out 40,000-plus vuvuzela-blowing crowd at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein.
Asian champions Iraq impressed defensively, conceding just one goal in three outings, but desperately-needed goals never materialized at Ellis Park against New Zealand, much to the relief of a mainly South African crowd in a half-empty stadium.
Spain stay in Bloemfontein to face the Group B runners-up on Wednesday, while South Africa head north to Johannesburg for a showdown with the Group A winners 24 hours later. The final and third-place play-off are slated for next Sunday, with the odds on Spain and Brazil challenging for the main prize and South Africa and Egypt in an all-Africa fight for the bronze medals.
“I’m very happy with the way things have gone, we have an excellent team,” said Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, whose team will create another world record of 36 matches unbeaten if they win their semi-final. “Winning 15 matches in a row is a huge success and we want to go on like this. I think we controlled the match well tonight, passed well and had most of the possession.”
South Africa coach Joel Santana was at his spin-doctoring best after his team were once again exposed as brittle in defense, unimaginative in midfield and blunt in attack.
“I’m very happy today,” Santana said. “This experience is crucial for the World Cup. Today the team was not good, but Bafana Bafana have qualified. It’s good for the people, good for the players and good for our World Cup preparations.”
Whether Santana, who deployed a 4-5-1 system against the Spaniards despite claiming he fears no team, will be in charge come the World Cup next June and July could hinge on how his team fares in the two matches next week.
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