A David Villa strike in the 63rd minute allowed Spain to get past Portugal 1-0 and move on to the quarterfinals.

Spain started the matched brightly with Torres exposing Portuguese make shift right-back Ricardo Costa as he tested Portuguese keeper Eduardo with a curling shot in the very first minute of the match causing the keeper to make a acrobatic save.

Eduardo was indeed superb in the early going parring away multiple shots from Villa, keeping Portugal in the game.

The Portuguese tactical setup allowed the Spanish to keep the majority of the ball with the Portuguese defence soaking up the pressure in the first half.

Indeed, the best chance for Portugal in the half was on the counter attack as a strike by Tiago was stopped by Spanish keeper Iker Casillas with the rebound nearly being met by Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida’s head.

A Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick late in the first half seemed to fool Casillas as the Spanish keeper bungled the ball but luckily over the head of incoming Portuguese midfielder Pepe.

At the end of the half, ball possession favoured Spain by a 60 to 40 margin with the Portuguese defence holding up well but with little in the manner of attacks.

Almeida was the lone attacking force for Portugal in the second half as he nearly opening the scoring on a brilliant run getting the better of Gerard Pique and seeing his crossed ball in the Spanish penalty area deflect off of defender Carlos Puyol and nealry into the net.

Portuguese attacks were few and far between as they continued their defensive approach and this would prove to be the their undoing in the second half as Spain began to look for the breakthrough and found it in the 63rd minute.

A sublime touch pass allowed David Villa to get behind the Portuguese defence and was left one on one with Eduardo who managed to stop the original stop but could do nothing as Villa slotted the second ball into the gaping net.

The Portuguese goal was breached for the first time in the tournament as the newly signed Barcelona striker had put Spain ahead.

Surprisingly Almeida was taken off for Danny by Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz four minutes before the goal though he had been giving Spanish central defence duo Puyol and Gerard Pique problems with his pace.

Fernando Llorente replaced Torres in the second half and nearly added to the Spanish lead as the 6 ft 5 striker caused Portuguese central defender Bruno Alves plenty of problems and caused Eduardo to come up with a great save off of a free header shirtly after coming in.

Portugal finish the tournament having scored in only one game and questions abounding about the future of coach Queiroz as he was criticized by players after the game for his negative tactics.

Spain will next play Paraguay on Saturday afternoon and with a victory will set up a mouth watering clash against either Argentina or Germany in the semi-finals.

When the World Cup draw was made months ago, the match-up with Brazil and Portugal was seen as perhaps the best match of the group stage. Two technically gifted sides that played attractive attacking football that would make for a classic of a game.

Unfortunately, do to the circumstances surrounding the game, that proved to be a unrealistic possibility.

Heading into the game, Brazil sat comfortably at the top of the group with six points while Portugal sat second with four and a impressive goal difference of seven after thrashing North Korea. A draw would see both teams through and Brazil maintain first place and that is exactly what happened as the game finished 0-0.

Though much was said before the game by both coaches about going for the win and defensive approach was taken by both sides.

Carlos Queiroz made several changes to his line-up after the 7-0 win over North Korea introducing Ricardo Costa, Duda and Real Madrid man Pepe into the mix.

On the other side, Brazil coach Dunga rested Robinho while replacing the suspended Kaka and injured Elano with Julio Baptista and Nilmar.

The Brazilians pressured the Portuguese early and nearly got a breakthrough in the 30th minute as a crossed ball into the area found Nilmar who’s attempt was parried off the bar by Portuguese keeper Eduardo.

A controversial moment came just a minute later as Portuguese midfielder Danny ran into the penalty area and laid the ball off to midfielder Tiago who went down in the area after colliding with Brazilian Gilberto Silva.

No penalty was given and instead Tiago was given a yellow card for diving. Replays showed that their may have been a faint push in the back by Silva but the right call was indeed made.

The first half ended in a whimper with neither side establishing much in the half.

Portugal seemed to get into the game more in the second half, the 60th minute saw a brilliant run by Cristiano Ronaldo who beat three Brazilian defenders until Lucio managed to tip the ball away from him in the penalty area right into the path of Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles who was left one on one with Brazil keeper Julio Cesar who manged to get a piece of the shot to send it wide.

Portuguese left-back Fabio Coentrao was put back into the winger role he originally played when he started his career and was marvellous as his defence kept Brazilian defender Maicon at bay from making his usual dramatic runs down the sidelines.

The last great chance of the game fell to Brazilian midfielder Ramires in injury time as a struck shot from outside the box deflected off the back of Portuguese defender Bruno Alves forcing Eduardo to make a brilliant save to keep the game scoreless.

Portugal became the only side in the 2010 World Cup to not concede a goal in the group stages and are now unbeaten in 19 games.

Brazil will next see action on Monday June 28th against Chile while Portugal will meet Group H winners Spain on Tuesday June 29th.

It was supposed to be a close match, after all North Korea had defended so well in their first game against Brazil and Portugal had been having trouble finding the back of the net and were missing inspirational midfielder Deco who was out with a hip injury.

Things certainly did not turn out that way.

It was a rainy start to the game in South Africa,the first half was closely contested with both teams trading chances early, the best of which was by Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho who headed the ball off of a corner kick and hit the post.

The breakthrough came in the 29th minute as Portuguese midfielder Tiago passed a perfect through-ball to Raul Meireles in the penalty area and he made no mistake slotting it past the North Korean keeper.

Cristiano Ronaldo found himself with some open space and looked to add to Portugal’s lead but shot the ball wide right before the half.

The North Korea defence was very resilient in the first half against the waves of Portuguese attacks but the second half would prove a different story.

Sublime passing by the Portuguese in the 53rd minute allowed winger Simao Sabrosa to break into the peanlty area and shoot the ball between North Korea keeper Myong-Guk Ri’s legs to put the Portuguese up by two.

The floodgates would then begin to open.

Now having to search for goals, North Korea opened up their defensive approach and Portugal took full advantage.

A beautifully crossed ball found the head of Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida who made no mistake and put Portugal up 3-0 after 56 minutes.

If the game wasn’t out of reach yet, a Ronaldo pass into the box in the 60th minute was met with a well positioned shot by midfielder Tiago to make it 4-0.

Nothing could go wrong for Portugal, substitute Liedson’s first touch on the ball was a goal as a defensive miscue by the North Korean left the naturalized Portuguese player wide open in front of net and he simply hammered in the fifth Portuguese goal.

In perhaps the most important and humorous event of the match, Ronaldo was able to break in on the North Korean keeper who came sliding out to meet him, the ball would then ricochet onto Ronaldo’s back and then onto his boot where he shot the ball into the open net. It was 6-0 for Portugal but more importantly Ronaldo’s first goal for Portugal since Euro 2008.

A well headed ball by Tiago in the 89th minute added to the North Korean misery as North Korean fans were able to watch their team from home for the first time at this World Cup. It will be a game North Korea fans choose to forget.

With the decisive win, Portugal moved three points up on the Ivory Coast and holds a substantial nine goal difference over the Ivory Coast and will take on Brazil in their final group stage game on Friday June 25th.

North Korea who was officially eliminated from the tournament will take on the Ivory Coast at the same time.

The seven goals scored by Portugal was the most in team history at a World Cup.

In one of the most highly anticipated matches of the group stages, Portugal and the Ivory Coast opened up the ‘Group of Death’ with a 0-0 draw.

The main storyline entering the match was the fitness of Ivory Coast star striker Didier Drogba who required surgery on a injured right arm after going down in a heap during a friendly match against Japan before the World Cup commenced. The availability of the striker was in serious doubt with early reports even suggesting he may miss the whole tournament.

A miraculous recovery after surgery though had him back on the training grounds with teammates in preparation of the opening fixture.Before opening kick-off it was announced that Drogba would not start the game but was in fact on the substitutes bench.

The first half kicked off with both sides using a cautious approach to adapt to each others tactics. Cristiano Ronaldo proved the first moment of true danger in the game in the 11^th minute hammering a shot from distance that clanged off the post.

The Portuguese star who has not scored for his country in over 16 months was left shaking his head at his lack of luck while Drogba was seen on the bench thanking the heavens that the ball did not go in.

Ronaldo would be given several other chances, particularly from free kicks but was unable to produce anything of significance.

With Drogba on the sidelines, the Ivory Coast attack was provided mostly by Gervinho who gave Portuguese right-back Paulo Ferriera problems with his pace and opened up avenues for his teammates.

Portuguese midfielder Deco worked his was into the penalty area and his cross was met by the waiting head of striker Liedson who was unable to beat Ivory Coast keeper Copa.

The introduction of Drogba as a substitute in the 65^th minute provided the contest with a little bit more sizzle as both teams began to open up looking for the opening goal.

Drogba would in fact have a excellent opportunity in front of the Portuguese net in the dying minutes but peculiarly sent the ball across instead of striking at the net.

Both teams defences were quite strong with Ivory Coast centre-back Kolo Toure and Portuguese left-back Fabio Coentrao in particular putting in excellent showings.

The result leaves Group G with much to be decided with the Ivory Coast playing Brazil on Sunday in their next match while Portugal take on North Korea on Monday.

Heading into South Africa, the Portuguese national team faces a stern test having been drawn into the so called “Group of Death” featuring the likes of Brazil,Ivory Coast and the lesser light of the group North Korea.

The 2010 World Cup draw was the last thing on Portuguese minds just a few months back when it looked like  qualification would be an after thought. Having been unable to defeat both Sweden and Denmark and dropping points to the likes of Albania, Portugal found themselves needing help to even confirm a second place finish in their qualifying group.

With consecutive wins over Hungary and a Denmark defeat of Sweden, Portugal confirmed a second place group finish. A two-legged playoff against Bosnia-Herzegovina would ensue with Portugal winning both matches by a score of 1-0, doing so with superstar Cristiano Ronaldo sidelined with a leg ailment for both fixtures. Portugal had booked their trip to South Africa but question marks still mired the squad.

First and foremost, the team’s reliance on Ronaldo is a concern considering he has failed to produce at the international level compared to the success he has had domestically with Manchester United and with current club Real Madrid.

In fact, the world’s most expensive player did not score a goal throughout the whole 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, which was a prime reason why the national team struggled in qualification.

The tactics of new coach Carlos Queiroz may be playing a part in Ronaldo’s decline and the former Manchester United assistant is facing increasing pressure after a poor qualifying campaign. One of the major concerns for Quieroz, is his lack of striking options on the squad.

With the retirement of Pedro Pauleta after the 2006 World Cup and the regression of Benfica striker Nuno Gomes due to his age, the lack of top notch strikers has hurt the development of the team.

The lack of a top notch striker was such a concern that as soon as Sporting Lisbon’s Brazilian born striker Liedson was granted Portuguese citizenship he became the first choice striker right away ahead of Werder Bremen’s Hugo Almeida and the aforementioned Gomes.

While the striker position is a concern, it is hardly the only issue on the squad. With first choice right-back Jose Bosingwa being ruled out of the tournament because of injury, Paulo Ferreira and Miguel have been doing their best to impress Queiroz in hope of securing the starting position.

The left-back starting position is also a highly contested battle between Malaga’s Duda and Benfica’s Fabio Coentrao.

Coentrao, who was converted to left-back from his natural position as a winger, has been extremely impressive and should have the advantage for the starting spot. The young Portuguese player is one to watch for the future as he is very technically gifted and has magnificent poise with the ball.

In terms of strengths, Portugal does boast a top class midfield with the likes of Chelsea star Deco,FC Porto’s Raul Meireles, along with a talented wing player in the form of Atletico Madrid’s Simao Sabrosa.

The centre-back duo of Bruno Alves and Ricardo Carvalho is one of the best in the tournament so much so that Real Madrid’s Pepe has been converted from centre-back to defensive midfielder in order for him to feature in the starting eleven.

Portugal is one of the enigmatic teams of the tournament and has the talent to win the whole competition but could also crash out in the group stages. The reliance on Ronaldo must not occur considering his lack of finish on the international stage and contributions from the likes of Liedson, Simao Sabrosa and Deco will be a must if Portugal wishes to go far in the tourney.