Torres explodes again, Spain "leads" Uruguay into the semi-finals
There were no surprises in the final match of Group B, when the two teams with the clearer chances, Spain and Uruguay, easily pocketed the victory to enter the semi-finals together.
Torres' flying header made it 2-0
Spain's superiority over Nigeria was evident even before most of the audience had even warmed up their seats. In the third minute, after a series of tiki-taka style passes, the ball fell to Jordi Alba and the Barca defender surprised his opponent by performing a spectacular solo performance that eliminated the entire Nigerian defense before delivering the finishing blow.
Nigeria was already at a disadvantage and had to concede early, so it was understandable that John Obi Mikel and his teammates were eager to find an equalizer. Unfortunately, all Nigeria could do was launch a few long-range shots, causing Valdes to sweat a little.
In complete contrast to their opponents, La Roja's attack was fluid and rhythmic, and delicious opportunities kept knocking on their door. In the 26th minute, Soldado received a long pass from his teammate, faced the goalkeeper, but finished too gently. In the 39th minute, Aberloa's cross put Fabregas in a comfortable position to shoot from about 7 meters away, but the Barca midfielder's tap-in hit the post.
Despite missing many good chances, the Spaniards did not panic. It was reasonable, they played well, almost secured a ticket to the semi-finals, and that is why La Roja started the second half at a much slower pace. That was a favorable condition for Nigeria to have more possession of the ball, but that did not mean that Coach Keshi's team could change the game.
On the contrary, Nigeria conceded another goal. In the 62nd minute, Pedro made a favorable cross for the striker who had just entered the field 2 minutes earlier, Fernando Torres flew to head the ball to increase the score to 2-0, at the same time also increasing his personal "shooting" record at this Confed Cup to 5 goals. One very special thing is that El Nino's 5 goals at the 2013 Confed Cup came after only 6 shots on target - a performance completely opposite to Torres' performance in the Premier League last season. In the remaining minutes of the match, Alba scored another goal to help La Roja beat Nigeria 3-0.
In the match taking place at the same time, Uruguay easily crushed the tiny opponent Tahiti with a score of 8-0 to join Spain in the semi-finals. Thus, Uruguay will play the first semi-final match against the host team Brazil, while Spain will face Italy in the second semi-final match.
According to Bongdaplus - DT
