Spain reach Confederations Cup semi-finals
Monday, June 24, 2013 @ 9:53 AM
Spain knocked African champions, Nigeria, out of the Confederations Cup On Sunday, setting up a semi-final clash with Italy.
Going into the match, Spain needed at least one point to qualify for the semi-finals and a brace from Jordi Alba plus another goal from Fernando Torres made sure of all three.
Nigeria had only an outside chance of qualifying, but made their intentions clear when they came out playing attacking football from the start. The African side caused numerous problems for Spain's defence in the early stages, but poor finishing let them down. John Mikel Obi and Sunday Mba both went close in the first half, and substitute Gambo Muhammad fired the ball wide with 15 minutes left.
Andrés Iniesta tested the Nigerian goalkeeper Enyeama soon after kick-off and was instrumental in the Jordi Alba goal that gave Spain an important breakthrough after just three minutes.
Read more at thinkSPAIN:com