David Villa gave Barcelona even more reason to be pleased they bought the striker before the World Cup.
His late winner against Paraguay, which put Spain into the semifinals for the first time was his fifth in five games at the tournament to make him leading scorer at the tournament.
“It speaks volumes for his form. He was right there,” Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque said.
“He is blessed,” said keeper and captain Iker Casillas.
Villa’s scoring form is in marked contrast to partner Fernando Torres, who has so far failed to find the net in South Africa and was replaced by Cesc Fabregas in the 56th minute.
Fortunately, Spain had Villa to maintain his strike rate to eventually break down a stubborn Paraguay side.
The 28-year-old, who also won the Golden Boot at Euro 2008 as Spain cast aside years of underachievement to triumph, has now netted a total of 43 goals in 63 appearances, just one shy of Raul’s record of 44 goals in 102 games.
“Villa is addicted to goals, he only thinks about that. There is no better striker than Villa, this is proved not only by his goals record but also by his general contribution to the play of the team,” Del Bosque wrote in a column ahead of the Paraguay tie.
Barcelona paid Valencia 40 million euros (49 million dollars) for Villa but earlier this week Joan Laporta, the outgoing president of the Catalan giants, justified the high price tag for the striker.
“If I had waited until the World Cup to sign him then his price would have gone up by 20 million euros. That is why I was so keen to sign him in May, before the World Cup started,” he said.
Villa had earlier been brought down in the box by Antolin Alcarez, but Xabi Alonso failed to convert from the spot in a twice-taken penalty.
His winner came after Andres Iniesta played the ball to substitute Pedro whose shot beat Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar, but came back off the post.
Villa was on hand to hit the rebound home with a shot, which went in after coming back from the inside of both posts.
“Villa had that hunger for goal that allowed him to convert,” said Del Bosque.
Source:thehindu.com
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