Record-equalling Spain beat Iraq to book semi-final place

Jun 17, 2009, 15:54 GMT

Bloemfontein, South Africa - A second-half header from David Villa helped tournament favourites Spain finally overcame an overly defensive Iraq 1-0 Wednesday to book their place in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup.

The win was the European champions' 34th match on the trot without defeat, moving Vicente del Bosque's side ever closer to the longest consecutive unbeaten streak in history, a run of 35 games established by Brazil between 1993 and 1996.

Victory against the Asian champions also sees Spain's winning streak move to 14 in succession, equalling the record shared by Australia (1996-97), Brazil (1997) and France (2003-04).

The European champions dominated the Group A encounter at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein throughout but were made to work hard for their win by a negative Iraq side that rarely ventured forward, even after falling behind.

The closest Bora Milutinovic's side came to scoring occurred after just nine minutes when Alaa Abdul Zahra fired tamely at Iker Casillas when Gerard Pique failed to clear a long ball but after this slight scare it was all one-way traffic.

Spain had the lion's share of possession but had to wait until the 25th minute for their first clear goalscoring opportunity when a Sergio Ramos cross found Villa unmarked at the far post but the striker steered his volley into the side-netting.

Santi Cazorla fired narrowly wide from outside the area as Spain continued to press while Xabi Alonso saw his shot shortly before the break easily saved by Iraq goalkeeper Mohammed Ali Kareem.

Spain resumed where they left off after the restart with Villa missing a glorious opportunity on 52 minutes, heading straight into the hands of the goalkeeper with the goal gaping.

Villa made amends three minutes later, however, steering his header into the bottom left-hand corner after fine build-up work down the left by Juan Mata and Joan Capdevila.

Alonso could have extended Spain's lead three minutes later with a firmly struck strike from outside the area but his shot was well held by Kareem, who also had to be at his best to block Mate's effort 11 minutes from time.

In the closing stages, Ramos fired over and Fernando Torres almost found Mata unmarked in the area but the Spanish fans had to go home satisfied with a single-goal victory.

Hosts South Africa now take on New Zealand in Rustenburg later Wednesday knowing victory will put them in pole position in the race for the second qualifying spot in Group A.