Spain duly completed the expected rout of Tahiti in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday night, all three Chelsea men in their squad starting the game.
The final score was 10-0 in the rebuilt Maracana with familiar names on the scoresheet, including Fernando Torres who found the net four times. Juan Mata was also among the goals with Cesar Azpilicueta winning his third cap as part of the defence.
The match was Spain’s second in the Confederations Cup, Mata having come on late in their win over Uruguay with our other players staying on the bench. Against Tahiti Vicente del Bosque made 10 changes, with plenty of attacking players on display against a side beaten 6-1 by Nigeria.
The first goal, on five minutes, was made in Chelsea. Torres, momentarily out on the left, exchanged passes with Mata and raced towards goal before scoring just inside the near post.
The Oceania champions’ best spell of the game followed as they kept Spain at bay and limited chances but with half an hour played, David Villa threaded a pass wide across the area for David Silva’s finish to make it 2-0.
Moments earlier Torres could not find unmarked Villa with a pass when he might have taken on a shot. That was soon forgotten when the Chelsea striker slotted the third after skipping inside the keeper following a Mata pass forward beyond the defence.
Villa added the fourth goal and the third in eight minutes, David Silva returning the earlier complement with the pass.
Mata spectacularly hooked a volley over the bar on the stroke of half-time but it only took the world and European champions three minutes of the second half to make it 5-0, Mata passing wide to Nacho Monreal to cross for Villa’s second of the night.
In the race for a hat-trick, it was Torres who won, netting from 10 yards out from Jesus Navas’s low cross. Villa drew level on goals in the game when the keeper made a hash of collecting a long pass and it was 7-0 just past the hour.
Mata added his name to the scoresheet on 65 minutes when the ball ricocheted back into his path as Spain tried a move through a crowd inside the area. The Chelsea Player of the Year was substituted soon after.
Torres clipped a 76th-minute penalty onto the crossbar after a handball but was smiling again a minute later when he went round the keeper for Spain’s ninth goal and the 35th of his international career.
Silva made it double figures with two minutes left on the clock, completing the third biggest win in Spain’s history.
Nigeria play Uruguay later tonight.