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Villa Saves Spain Blushes Spain 1 - 0 Bosnia-Herzegovina
David Villa missed a penalty and then scored a winning goal as Spain did just enough to keep the feel-good factor alive with a win against a very spirited visiting side that did not sit back and defend  |
| The Valencia striker netted the only goal of the game midway through the second period to give the hosts victory and open their World Cup qualifying campaign with all three points in front of a full house in Murcia.
Bosnia did defend well, but they also broke on the counter-attack well and certainly asked their hosts some questions eve if Iker Casillas remained largely untroubled. Vicente del Bosque was in a no win situation after taking the reins of the European champions from Luis Aragones but he showed that he was determined to make his own mark with the starting line-up. While the majority played in Austria and Switzerland, Cesc Fàbregas started whiel Diego Capel was given a run on the left flank and it proved to be a successful choice in the absence of Fernando Torres. In the opening half the Sevilla forward was lively and looked keen, but there was a downside as Spain appeared to only be looking to him to open up the visitors' defence. Gone was the neat triangular passing that marked Spain's success at Euro 2008 and in came a reliance on play to the flanks and with only the diminutive Villa in the middle, Bosnia were comfortable. Predictions were made that given la Furia Roja's firepower, the away team would arrive in Murcia look to shut up shop but they did nothing of the sort and meant Carles Puyol and company had to be alert all evening. It was just before the half-hour mark that Spain had their first two meaningful chances of the night when Xavi headed goalwards moments before Marcos Senna rattled the crossbar with a drive. Referee Craig Thomson was in generous mood in the 34th minute when he spotted Samir Muratovic foul Capel in the area and the Spanish wre hande the chance to take the lead. Villa looked confident and stepped forward, but he did not have shooting boots on the right feet as he rolled a soft effort wide of the left-hand post from 12 yards out. Bosnia on the counter did look capable, but with half-time approaching they had their best chance of entire night and still failed to register a shot as Edin Dzeko was put through but instead of testing Casillas, he tried to pass it back into the middle and the the danger was gone. The first substitutions of the evening were made in the 65th minute and by then Spain were already ahead after the one move that resembled Aragones' tactics opened up Bosnia. Cesc, who had been quiet all night, finally found a forward pass through the centre as he picked out Villa and the forward rounded the keeper before slotting home from what appeared to be an impossible angle. Spain had deserved it for their dominance of the ball, but the play was still not as smooth as many had hoped for and stray passes and headless runs did feature. In the closing minutes Iniesta came into his own and had a hat-trick of chances, but Bosnia held out and will have been happy with the encouraging display. For Del Bosque he will need to work on becoming more effective but the return of Torres will certainly go a long way to helping out on that front. |
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