Villa maravilla... again

David Villa scored a thriller on the first anniversary of Michael Jackson's death. Spain's King of Shots stunned impressive Chile with a 40-yard lob for the most spectacular goal of the World Cup so far. It set the tournament favourites on the way to topping Group H and a last-16 date with neighbours Portugal on Tuesday in Cape Town. The win means Spain neatly sidestep Brazil in their next match as their quest to become European and world champions gathers pace.
Both teams raced out of the blocks like sprinters after hearing the starter's gun. The breakthrough came after 24 minutes when Torres chased down a long ball from Xabi Alonso. Chile keeper Claudio Bravo raced out of his box to clear. But he failed to put the ball into touch and Villa, lurking on the wing, curled a beautiful left-foot shot over the keeper and into the net. Torres had a hand in Spain's second on 37 minutes.
The Liverpool man produced a neat backward pass at pace to allow Barcelona's Andres Iniesta to play a one-two with Villa and bury a second goal. But as Iniesta netted, Torres went down under Estrada's tackle and lay prone for several minutes while the Chilean got a second yellow card.
Chile still did not give up and in the 47th minute heaped pressure on Spain when sub Rodrigo Millar netted with a deflected shot. Spain boss Vicente Del Bosque refuses to believe his side have the easy option facing Portugal in the last 16 instead of Brazil. He said: "Anyone who watched that earlier match saw how Portugal controlled Brazil, and had excellent counter-attacking opportunities. ..... I think we've overcome a very difficult time for Spain. We were very disturbed emotionally by that defeat to Switzerland but we are more optimistic now."
Taken from The Sun See Villa at the 2008 Football Eurocup