Another late drama pull Spain through
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Euro 2008 produced another late goal drama when David Villa scored a dramatic injury time winner to give Spain a 2-1 win over Sweden.
Villa, who scored a hat-trick in the 4-1 victory over Russia, netted in the second minute of stoppage time.
The victory put the Spaniards on top of Group D and book their place in the quarter-finals.
Spain took the lead on 15th minutes when Fernando Torres stretched out his leg in front of his marker Petter Hansson to steer the ball in following a cross from David Silva.
Sweden were in control and deservedly equalised on 34th minute thru Zlatan Ibrahimović, who took down a wonderful cross from Fredrik Stoor, managed to evade Sergio Ramos and tapped it in despite Iker Casillas getting a touch to it.
Just as it looked that Sweden had done enough for the draw, Villa fastened onto a deep ball from Joan Capdevila.
With Torres and Stoor having collided trying to get it, the ball in fact sailed over everyone to Villa, allowing El Guaje cut inside Hansson before placed the ball past Andreas Isaksson to send La Furia Roja into the second round.
Spain boss Luis Aragonés praised Villa for his late goal winner, describing the goal as "almost impossible."
Villa, the leading goal scorer in the tournament so far with four goals, won his second man of the match award and helped Spain extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches.
The goal is worth more than the treble against Russia for Villa as it brought Spain won in a more complicated match.
Sweden blamed referee Pieter Vink, saying the Spanish late winner should have been disallowed and the refferee was pressurised.
Sweden substitute Markus Rosenberg agreed his side should have been awarded a free kick for the foul on him earlier before Spain went scored.
Swedish captain Fredrik Ljungberg also criticised Spain for pressurising the referee, especially at halftime after Vink had dismissed a penalty claim for the foul and Silva.
Silva was barged by Johan Elmander but Vink felt that it was a legal challenge, resulting in his being surrounded by angry Spanish players at half time.
Both sides suffered a major setback as Carles Puyol and Ibrahimović were forced off the field hrough injury.
Experienced centre back Puyol is a mountain of experience at the defense left the pitch early with a foot injury.
While Ibrahimović , who had been struggling with a knee problem in the progress, replaced by Rosenberg, but claimed will be okay for the final match against Russia.
Sweden: 1-Andreas Isaksson; 5-Fredrik Stoor, 3-Olof Mellberg, 4-Petter Hansson, 2-Mikael Nilsson; 11-Johan Elmander (18-Sebastian Larsson 79), 8-Anders Svensson, 19-Daniel Andersson, 9-Fredrik Ljungberg; 10-Zlatan Ibrahimović (22-Markus Rosenberg 46), 17-Henrik Larsson (16-Kim Kallström 87)
Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 5-Carles Puyol (2-Raúl Albiol 24), 4-Carlos Marchena, 11-Joan Capdevila; 6-Andrés Iniesta (12-Santi Cazorla 58), 19-Marcos Senna, 8-Xavi (10-Cesc Fà bregas 58), 21-David Silva; 7-David Villa, 9-Fernando Torres
Referee: Pieter Vink (Netherlands)
Statistics:
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Villa, who scored a hat-trick in the 4-1 victory over Russia, netted in the second minute of stoppage time.
The victory put the Spaniards on top of Group D and book their place in the quarter-finals.
Spain took the lead on 15th minutes when Fernando Torres stretched out his leg in front of his marker Petter Hansson to steer the ball in following a cross from David Silva.
Sweden were in control and deservedly equalised on 34th minute thru Zlatan Ibrahimović, who took down a wonderful cross from Fredrik Stoor, managed to evade Sergio Ramos and tapped it in despite Iker Casillas getting a touch to it.
Just as it looked that Sweden had done enough for the draw, Villa fastened onto a deep ball from Joan Capdevila.
With Torres and Stoor having collided trying to get it, the ball in fact sailed over everyone to Villa, allowing El Guaje cut inside Hansson before placed the ball past Andreas Isaksson to send La Furia Roja into the second round.
Spain boss Luis Aragonés praised Villa for his late goal winner, describing the goal as "almost impossible."
Villa, the leading goal scorer in the tournament so far with four goals, won his second man of the match award and helped Spain extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches.
The goal is worth more than the treble against Russia for Villa as it brought Spain won in a more complicated match.
Sweden blamed referee Pieter Vink, saying the Spanish late winner should have been disallowed and the refferee was pressurised.
Sweden substitute Markus Rosenberg agreed his side should have been awarded a free kick for the foul on him earlier before Spain went scored.
Swedish captain Fredrik Ljungberg also criticised Spain for pressurising the referee, especially at halftime after Vink had dismissed a penalty claim for the foul and Silva.
Silva was barged by Johan Elmander but Vink felt that it was a legal challenge, resulting in his being surrounded by angry Spanish players at half time.
Both sides suffered a major setback as Carles Puyol and Ibrahimović were forced off the field hrough injury.
Experienced centre back Puyol is a mountain of experience at the defense left the pitch early with a foot injury.
While Ibrahimović , who had been struggling with a knee problem in the progress, replaced by Rosenberg, but claimed will be okay for the final match against Russia.
| Sweden |  | 1 - 2 |  | Spain |
| Zlatan Ibrahimović 34 | Fernando Torres 15 | |||
| David Villa 90+2 |
Sweden: 1-Andreas Isaksson; 5-Fredrik Stoor, 3-Olof Mellberg, 4-Petter Hansson, 2-Mikael Nilsson; 11-Johan Elmander (18-Sebastian Larsson 79), 8-Anders Svensson, 19-Daniel Andersson, 9-Fredrik Ljungberg; 10-Zlatan Ibrahimović (22-Markus Rosenberg 46), 17-Henrik Larsson (16-Kim Kallström 87)
Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 5-Carles Puyol (2-Raúl Albiol 24), 4-Carlos Marchena, 11-Joan Capdevila; 6-Andrés Iniesta (12-Santi Cazorla 58), 19-Marcos Senna, 8-Xavi (10-Cesc Fà bregas 58), 21-David Silva; 7-David Villa, 9-Fernando Torres
Referee: Pieter Vink (Netherlands)
Statistics:
| Shots on target : | 2 | - | 9 |
| Shots off target : | 6 | - | 3 |
| Ball possession (%) : | 38 | - | 62 |
| Corner kicks : | 0 | - | 7 |
| Offsides : | 2 | - | 1 |
| Fouls : | 20 | - | 15 |
| Yellow cards : | 1 | - | 1 |
| Red cards : | 0 | - | 0 |
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