European champions Spain moved to within touching distance of the World Cup finals after coasting to a 5-0 win over Belgium in La Coruna, Spain, on Saturday. Valencia duo David Silva and David Villa both scored twice with Barcelona defender Gerard Pique also on target in the five-goal romp.
The double from Villa, who also missed a penalty, raises his international goals tally to 33 in just 51 games as he closes in on the national record of 44 held by Real Madrid striker Raul.
Spain have a flawless seven wins at the top of Group 5, six points ahead of second-placed Bosnia Herzegovina who won 2-0 at Armenia.
If Spain beat Estonia in Merida on Wednesday and Bosnia fail to beat Turkey, they will qualify for the World Cup finals with two games to spare. Villarreal midfielder Marcos Senna failed to recover from a knock sustained at the weekend so emerging Barcelona star Sergi Busquets, 21, won his seventh cap starting alongside Xabi Alonso in central midfield.
Injuries meant Belgium had to hand a tough debut to goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet.
Gillet had a busy game throughout and Villa went close twice in the opening 10 minutes.
Villa zipped a shot just wide of post in the eighth minute and then spurned a golden chance two minutes later, with the debutant goalkeeper blocking it with his legs.
Belgium were struggling and Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen collected the first yellow card of the match for hacking down Fernando Torres.
In the 21st minute Villa won a soft penalty by wrongfooting Anthony Vanden Borre and picked himself up for the spot-kick.
The Valencia striker opted to strike his penalty down the middle and Gillet saved with his trailing foot. Villa then hit the post before setting up Silva for the goal on 41 minutes with a delightful pass. Silva made no mistake with a clinical finish for only his fourth international goal.
After a frustrating first half Villa got his goal four minutes after the break with a trademark right-footed finish.
Sixty seconds later center-half Pique showed a striker’s composure in the penalty area to make it 3-0 before Silva smashed in a terrific second goal.
Villa grabbed the final goal of the game on 85 minutes as Spain tore the visitors apart on the counter attack.
Also See: 標題
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946