Fernando Torres made his 70th appearance for his country as the European champions qualified for the 2010 World Cup with a victory over Estonia. The striker played for 57 minutes as Cesc, Cazorla and Mata all grabbed goals in Spain’s comfortable 3-0 win in Merida.

Estonia matched Vicente Del Bosque’s side in the opening stages of Wednesday’s qualifier at the newly inaugurated Roman Stadium. The visitors came close to surprising Spain when Zenjov shot into the side netting from close range.

Spain’s first real chance of the Group 5 qualifier fell to David Villa. Xavi picked out the striker with a clever pass, but Villa failed to keep his shot down.

The hosts were threatening again moments later as Pareiko pulled off an excellent save to deny Fernando Torres. A slick move from the Red Fury found the striker in space, but the Estonia keeper managed to divert Torres’ shot behind for a corner.

Spain were now definitely on top as Torres almost broke the deadlock on 25 minutes. Silva threaded the ball through to the Spain number ‘9’, but Fernando’s snap-shot flew just over the crossbar.

A goal was on the cards and it wasn’t long in coming as Cesc put Spain in front just after the hour mark. The midfielder beat Pareiko with a carefully placed right-footed shot into the far corner.

The tempo dipped in the second-half as Spain defended their 1-0 lead in the knowledge that Bosnia had drawn with Turkey, and that a win would be enough to see them finish top.

With just over half an hour remaining Vicente Del Bosque made his first substitution, bringing on Dani Guiza for Fernando Torres. The manager went on to change all three of his attacking players as he gave the trio of Guiza, Cazorla and Mata minutes against Estonia.

Second-half substitute Santi Cazorla made a quick impact as he rifled home from just inside the box to double Spain’s lead with just under ten minutes remaining. The goal put the result beyond any doubt as the fans started to celebrate their country’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup.

Mata followed Cazorla’s example with almost the last kick of the game, drilling past the Estonia shot-stopper to make it 3-0 on the night. The party was now well underway.


- Match Stats: Spain 3–0 Estonia

Spain: Casillas, Albiol, Piqué, Marchena, Capdevila, Senna, Xavi, Cesc, Silva (Mata, 79), Villa (Cazorla, 66), Torres (Guiza, 57)


Goals: Cesc 32, Cazorla 81, Mata 90

Estonia: Pareiko, Sisov (Jaager, 66), Rahn, Piroja, Klavan, Vunk, Zenjov, Vassiljev, Kruglov, Kink (Lindpere, 71), Oper

Booked: Piroja, Vassiljev, Rahn