Rustenburg, South Africa - Tournament favourites Spain booked their place in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup Wednesday while hosts South Africa secured their first victory of tournament.

Spain needed a second-half goal from David Villa to secure a 1-0 victory over a dogged Iraqi side in Bloemfontein's Free State Stadium while two goals from Bernard Parker gave the Bafana Bafana a 2-0 win over New Zealand in Rustenburg.

Rustenburg, South Africa - The President of football's controlling body Joseph Blatter said on Wednesday that his organization was just as concerned about filling seats at the Confederations Cup as they were about selling tickets.

Although ticket sales for the competition were good and is lying just two per cent below what it was at the Confederations Cup in Germany in 2005, none of the five matches so far have been sold out and in some cases the stadium have been half-empty.

Rustenburg, South Africa - New Zealand's All Whites have played 10 matches at senior FIFA competitions and have yet to secure a point.

In 1982, the team lost all three matches at the World Cup, as they did at the 1999 and 2003 Confederations Cup competitions.

This time around they have played one game so far and were completely outclassed by a rampant Spain side, that could have won by a much higher margin than 5-0 had they not relaxed in the second half after being ahead 4-0 at half-time.

Rustenburg, South Africa  - The new Real Madrid, with superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, does not scare Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.

At the Spain camp in Rustenburg, South Africa, when asked Friday whether he would be more scared of a lion or of the strong Real Madrid side that is being built by new club president Florentino Perez, Pique laughed.

"Of a lion, of course!" he said, in the wake of a morning safari alongside his Spain team-mates.