David Villa fired Spain into the quarter-finals of the World Cup with a deserved victory over Portugal in Cape Town.
David Villa fired Spain into the quarter-finals of the World Cup following a deserved 1-0 victory over a conservative Portugal side in Cape Town.
The in-form striker took his tournament tally to four goals with a decisive 63rd minute strike to set-up a last-eight meeting with Paraguay.
Portugal lost Ricardo Costa to a late red card following an altercation with Joan Capdevila, but by then a defensively-minded outfit looked like they had already given up hope of finding an equaliser.
Spain were handed a pre-match boost when Xabi Alonso passed a fitness test on an ankle injury and coach Vicente del Bosque was able to name the side that won 2-0 against Chile in their final group match.
Portugal were made two changes from their goalless draw with Brazil with Hugo Almeida and Sabrosa Simao in for Danny and Duda.
Spain started at a frenetic pace and Fernando Torres and Villa, on two occasions, both tested goalkeeper Eduardo with low shots within the first seven minutes.
But despite playing a deep-lying game of containment, Portugal arguably had the best chances of the first half.
Iker Casillas had to punch the ball off his own line after only managing to knock a powerful shot from Tiago straight up into the air on 21 minutes.
He also looked suspect when spilling Cristiano Ronaldo's 35-yard free-kick and required help from Gerard Pique to clear the danger.
Tiago could have headed Portugal into the lead on the stroke of half-time when he powered into the box and out-jumped Carles Puyol only to see his header bounce wide.
In-between it was all Spain and they dominated possession without managing to break down a well-drilled defensive unit.
Puyol almost put the ball into his own net eight minutes into the second half when Hugo Almeida's cross looped up off his legs but drifted just wide of the far post with Casillas helpless.
However, Spain were gradually looking more dangerous and the arrival of Fernando Llorente for the disappointing Torres on 59 minutes was the turning point in the match.
He should have broken the deadlock with a close-range header which he planted straight at the keeper just moments after arriving on the pitch.
But Spain were ahead in the 63rd minute when a combination of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez played in Villa on the left-hand side of goal.
Villa saw his first shot saved by the body of Eduardo but kept his composure to chip the rebound in off the underside of the crossbar.
Barcelona's new £35million striker almost doubled Spain's lead 15 minutes later when he let fly with a 25-yard shot which looked destined for the top corner until Eduardo intervened.
Llorente then flicked a gilt-edged chance inches wide after getting a glancing header onto Villa's long ball forward.
Ricardo Costa was sent off for the briefest of contact on Capdevila in the Spain penalty area on 89 minutes as Portugal's World Cup campaign petered out in disappointing fashion.
Ronaldo, Portugal's captain and the world's most expensive player, was a virtual bystander in their defensive approach and cut an extremely frustrated figure at full-time.
The in-form striker took his tournament tally to four goals with a decisive 63rd minute strike to set-up a last-eight meeting with Paraguay.
Portugal lost Ricardo Costa to a late red card following an altercation with Joan Capdevila, but by then a defensively-minded outfit looked like they had already given up hope of finding an equaliser.
Spain were handed a pre-match boost when Xabi Alonso passed a fitness test on an ankle injury and coach Vicente del Bosque was able to name the side that won 2-0 against Chile in their final group match.
Portugal were made two changes from their goalless draw with Brazil with Hugo Almeida and Sabrosa Simao in for Danny and Duda.
Spain started at a frenetic pace and Fernando Torres and Villa, on two occasions, both tested goalkeeper Eduardo with low shots within the first seven minutes.
Despite playing a deep-lying game of containment Portugal had arguably the best chances of the first half.
Iker Casillas had to punch the ball off his own line after only managing to knock a powerful shot from Tiago straight up into the air after 21 minutes.
He also looked suspect when spilling Cristiano Ronaldo's 35-yard free-kick and required help from Gerard Pique to clear the danger.
Tiago could have headed Portugal into the lead on the stroke of half-time when he powered into the box and out-jumped Carles Puyol only to see his header bounce wide.
Between those incidents it was all Spain. Puyol almost put the ball into his own net eight minutes into the second half when Hugo Almeida's cross looped up off his legs but drifted just wide of the far post with Casillas helpless.
Spain were gradually looking more dangerous and the arrival of Fernando Llorente for the disappointing Torres after 59 minutes was the turning point in the match.
He should have broken the deadlock with a close-range header which he planted straight at the keeper just moments after arriving on the pitch.
Spain were ahead in the 63rd minute when a combination of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez played in Villa on the left-hand side of goal.
Villa saw his first shot saved by the body of Eduardo but kept his composure to chip the rebound in off the underside of the crossbar.
Barcelona's recent signing almost doubled Spain's lead 15 minutes later when he let fly with a 25-yard shot which looked destined for the top corner until Eduardo intervened.
Llorente then flicked a gilt-edged chance inches wide after getting a glancing header onto Villa's long ball forward.
Ricardo Costa was sent off for the briefest of contact on Capdevila in the Spain penalty area on 89 minutes as Portugal's World Cup campaign petered out in disappointing fashion.
Ronaldo, Portugal's captain and the world's most expensive player, was a virtual bystander in their defensive approach and cut an extremely frustrated figure at full-time.
