Sport

Spain complete task with ease

World Cup 2006: Spain eased into the World Cup finals with a 1-1 draw in Slovakia to complete a 6-2 aggregate victory in their…

Thu Nov 17 2005 - 00:00

World Cup 2006: Spain eased into the World Cup finals with a 1-1 draw in Slovakia to complete a 6-2 aggregate victory in their play-off tie last night.

Saturday's 5-1 victory in Madrid made the second leg virtually a formality and their goalkeeper Iker Casillas was rarely troubled in a first half they controlled.

The hosts, trying to reach the finals for the first time as an independent nation, were given a ray of hope five minutes into the second half when striker Filip Holosko seized on a loose ball and fired a low shot past Casillas.

David Villa calmed any Spanish nerves after 71 minutes, racing on to a precise pass from Fernando Morientes and firing home his first goal for his country to extend Spain's unbeaten run under coach Luis Aragones to 18 matches. "Now it's official, we're in the World Cup. It's now down to us to work as hard as possible to prepare for next year," said Aragones, who took over after Spain's flop at Euro 2004.

READ MORE

Captain Raul predicted that Spain would be a big threat in Germany now that they have sealed their place in the finals for the eighth time in succession. "It's a moment to be very proud of," said the Real Madrid striker. "Getting to the World Cup is very important to this side and I believe we have the quality to do something big when we get there."

Spain, who were beaten to automatic qualification by Serbia & Montenegro, would have won comfortably had they converted the chances they created in the first half. Raul shot wide following a defensive error in the 19th minute and his fellow striker Fernando Torres was also guilty of a bad miss, shooting over when unmarked in the penalty area.

SLOVAKIA: Contofalsky, Skrtel, Durica, Gresko (Cech 77), Kratochvil, Zabavnik, Hlinka, Krajcik, Hodur (Holosko 46), Nemeth (Fodrek 83), Vittek. Subs not used: Kelemen, Petras, Valachovic, Reiter. Booked: Durica. Goal: Holosko 50.

SPAIN: Casillas, Pablo, Antonio Lopez, Puyol, Salgado, Alonso, Baraja, Xavi (Sergio 74), Vicente, Raul (Morientes 65), Torres (Villa 61). Subs not used: Reina, Marchena, Luis Garcia, Rivera. Goal: Villa 70.

Referee: Markus Merk (Germany).