Veteran striker David Villa helped to fire Spain to a comfortable 3-0 win over Australia on Monday to ensure that the deposed champions left Brazil on a winning note after a miserable World Cup.
Both teams were already out of the tournament after defeats to the Netherlands and Chile in Group B, but Villa and Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta, who won his 100th cap, at least had something to celebrate.
Spain’s record scorer, Villa put Spain 1-0 ahead with his 59th goal in 97 internationals. He flicked home in the 36th minute with a clever back-heel after a fine pass from Iniesta had sent defender Juanfran clear.
Photo: Reuters
Fellow striker Fernando Torres finished neatly in the 69th minute when he found space in the penalty area. Substitute Juan Mata rolled a third goal between the legs of goalkeeper Mat Ryan in the 82nd minute as Australia ran out of steam.
The damage had been done for the Spain when they lost 5-1 to the Dutch and 2-0 to Chile in their first two games, ending the reign of a team who have dominated European and world soccer since 2008.
“This time it was our turn to lose and I think we go out with our heads held high,” Del Bosque said, adding that he would make a decision on his future once he gets home.
Del Bosque made seven changes to his starting lineup to ensure as many of his squad as possible saw some action in Brazil.
Villa, who is heading for Major League Soccer in the US next year via a stint at Melbourne City, got the chance to make what was probably a farewell appearance.
“If it were up to me, I would play all my life for Spain. It’s more likely it will end here, but we’ll see,” man-of-the-match Villa told a press conference.
For Australia, the defeat was chastening after they had run the Netherlands close in a 3-2 defeat last week. They leave the World Cup with no points, their worst showing at the tournament.
Australia coach Ange Postecoglou said his team had faded after performing well in the first 10 to 15 minutes.
“We lost our discipline and our decisionmaking wasn’t great. We gave the ball away far too cheaply, which we haven’t been doing in this tournament,” Postecoglou said.
Spain goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who replaced captain Iker Casillas, had a quiet afternoon, with Australia missing suspended leading scorer Tim Cahill up front.
“Ultimately we’ve come here and lost all three games, so we haven’t got the results we wanted,” Postecoglou said.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with