Spain Narrowly Defeats Belgium In WC 2010 Qualifier

Last Wednesday, Belgium faced Euro 2008 winners and world #1 Spain. It was a FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying match. The match was played at home at Stade Roi Baudouin/Koning Boudewijnstadion (King Baudouin Stadium) in Brussels, Belgium. Going into a match against such a formidable opponent isn’t easy. Anxiety and stress must have been on our players’ minds. On the otherhand, Belgium didn’t have much to lose as they were the quintessential underdogs. Surprisingly, it was the Rode Duivels’ best match under René Vandereycken thus far. Belgium hung tough against the European powerhouse. Wesley Sonck, who has lately been on fire scoring wise, opened the score in just the 7th minute of play. Just a few minutes later (around the 10th minute) Fernando Torres limped off of the pitch. It was a costly loss for Spain, but his substitution led to their eventual equalizing goal. Torres’ substitution, Cesc Fabregas, intercepted a Belgian pass and fed the ball to Andres Iniesta leveling the score at 1-1 in the 36′. Everton’s Marouane Fellaini played well again for Belgium. The promising Belgian had numerous occasions to score. The Rode Duivels continued their strong momentum in the second period with Fellaini opening the half with a scoring chance that was waved off-side. As time wore on, Belgium withdrew on the attack allowing Spain to seek another goal. David Villa scored a devastating (for Belgium) late goal in the 88′ sealing a Spanish victory. Final score Belgium 1-2 Spain.

Line-ups
* 1 Stijn STIJNEN (GK)
* 3 Timmy SIMONS (C) Yellow Card
* 4 Vincent KOMPANY
* 5 Daniel VAN BUYTEN Out (-46′)
* 8 Steven DEFOUR Out (-73′)
* 9 Axel WITSEL
* 10 Wesley SONCK Goal
* 14 Thomas VERMAELEN
* 15 Jan VERTONGHEN Yellow Card
* 16 Anthony VANDEN BORRE Out (-87′)
* 17 Marouane FELLAINI
Substitute(s)
* 2 Filip DAEMS In (+46′)
* 6 Guillaume GILLET In (+87′)
* 7 Jelle VAN DAMME In (+73′)
* 11 Stein HUYSEGEMS
* 12 Silvio PROTO
* 13 Stijn DE SMET
* 18 Moussa DEMBELE

* (GK)(C) Iker CASILLAS 1
* JUANITO 4
* Yellow Card Carles PUYOL 5
* (-84′) Out Yellow Card Goal ANDRES INIESTA 6
* Goal Yellow Card David VILLA 7
* XAVI HERNANDEZ 8
* (-16′) Out Fernando TORRES 9
* Juan CAPDEVILA 11
* SERGIO RAMOS 15
* MARCOS SENNA 16
* (-64′) Out SANTI CAZORLA 18
Substitute(s)
* Raul ALBIOL 2
* Fernando NAVARRO 3
* Yellow Card (+16′) In Cesc FABREGAS 10
* Pepe REINA 12
* Alvaro ARBELOA 13
* (+64′) In XABI ALONSO 14
* (+84′) In DANIEL GUIZA 17