David Villa scored his fourth goal in the 2010 World Cup as Spain saw off Iberian neighbours Portugal 1-0 in Cape Town.
The decisive goal arrived in the 63rd minute when Andrés Iniesta fed Xavi just inside the box and the latter flicked the ball on for the on-rushing Villa, who stabbed home at the second attempt after his initial shot was saved by Portugal keeper Eduardo.
But the victory was marred as Portugal were wrongly reduced to 10 men on 89 minutes by the ridiculous dismissal of Ricardo Costa for an alleged elbow on Joan Capdevila.
Spain will now play Paraguay in the last eight on Saturday as they look to continue their charge for world glory for the first time in their history.
Lineups:
Spain: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila; Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso (Carlos Marchena, 90), Andrés Iniesta; David Villa (Pedro, 88), Fernando Torres (Fernando Llorente, 59)
Portugal: Eduardo; Ricardo Costa, Bruno Alves, Ricardo Carvalho, Fábio Coentrão; Tiago, Pepe (Pedro Mendes, 72), Raúl Meireles; Simão (Liédson, 72), Hugo Almeida (Danny, 58), Cristiano Ronaldo
Statistics:
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The decisive goal arrived in the 63rd minute when Andrés Iniesta fed Xavi just inside the box and the latter flicked the ball on for the on-rushing Villa, who stabbed home at the second attempt after his initial shot was saved by Portugal keeper Eduardo.
But the victory was marred as Portugal were wrongly reduced to 10 men on 89 minutes by the ridiculous dismissal of Ricardo Costa for an alleged elbow on Joan Capdevila.
Spain will now play Paraguay in the last eight on Saturday as they look to continue their charge for world glory for the first time in their history.
Lineups:
Spain: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila; Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso (Carlos Marchena, 90), Andrés Iniesta; David Villa (Pedro, 88), Fernando Torres (Fernando Llorente, 59)
Portugal: Eduardo; Ricardo Costa, Bruno Alves, Ricardo Carvalho, Fábio Coentrão; Tiago, Pepe (Pedro Mendes, 72), Raúl Meireles; Simão (Liédson, 72), Hugo Almeida (Danny, 58), Cristiano Ronaldo
Statistics:
| Spain | Portugal | |
| 1 | Goals | 0 |
| 8 | Shots on target | 3 |
| 5 | Shots off target | 5 |
| 6 | Corners | 3 |
| 13 | Fouls | 18 |
| 0 | Offsides | 3 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 1 |
| 62 | Ball possession (%) | 38 |
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