Spain round off wonderful year with hansome win

Spain round off wonderful year with hansome winVillarreal, Spain  - A handsome 3-0 defeat of Chile on Wednesday rounded off a wonderful 2008 for the Spanish national team.

Goals from David Villa, Fernando Torres and Santi Cazorla kept intact new manager Vicente del Bosque's 100 per cent record - and stretched Spain's unbeaten run to 28 games.

It is now exactly two years ago since "La Seleccion" suffered their last defeat, a run which lively but naive Chile never seemed capable of ending.

Torres said that he was "very proud to be part of this team," whilst Cazorla added that "the philosophy is the same" as under Euro 2008 manager Luis Aragones.

A quiet first half in Villarreal came to life in the 36th minute, when Albert Riera exaggerated a push from Rodrigo Tello and was rewarded with a dubious penalty.

Euro 2008 top scorer Villa converted the spot-kick, his 24th goal in 37 international games.

Villa almost made it 2-0 with a left-foot drive before half-time, then had a low drive saved in th 49th minute.

Spain's substitutes then took centre stage, with Torres, Cazorla and debutant Fernando Llorente all keen to make an impression.

Torres it 2-0 in the 68th minute with a classy goal, cutting inside from the right and scoring with his left foot.

It was the Liverpool hitman's first goal since scoring the winner against Germany in the Euro 2008 final.

In the 87th minute Cazorla completed the rout with a left-foot drive that took a wicked deflection off defender Carlos Carmona and eluded goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. (dpa)

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