Spain came back from a goal down to beat Turkey 2-1 in their World Cup qualifying game in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Spain came back from a goal down to beat Turkey 2-1 in their World Cup qualifying game in Istanbul on Wednesday. [Sina.com]

Riera scored the winning goal deep into injury time to give the Spanish their sixth consecutive win in their World Cup qualifying group and to set them well on the way to confirming their place in the 2010 finals.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque produced a surprise in his starting line up by leaving Valencia striker David Villa out of his side. Villa has had physical problems in recent weeks and Del Bosque opted to rest him, bringing Liverpool winger Albert Riera into his side.

Despite playing with Fernando Torres as a lone striker, the Spanish looked to take the initiative in the opening minutes.

Riera saw a left foot shot tipped over the bar, while Torres should have done better than shoot tamely at Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Demi when well placed in the penalty area.

However, it was the home side that opened the scoring after 25 minutes. The Spain defense failed to cut out a diagonal ball into the penalty area, Tuncay Sanl got a touch and all Semih Senturk had to do was turn the ball into an empty net with Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas stranded.

The goal gave the Turks a huge morale boost and Nihat Kavechi, who plays his club football with Villarreal in Spain, had two chances to double their lead before the break.

However, both of his shots went wide without troubling Casillas.

Turkey began the second period looking to kill off the game, but once again Nihat was unable to find the target.

Those wasted chances proved to be expensive for the home side as Spain drew level from the penalty spot.

A clear handball was punished by Xabi Alonso who slotted the ball home from 11 yards.

The game looked to be heading for a draw, but in injury time, substitute Dani Guiza found space on the left touchline and crossed for Riera to score from close range.

The win leaves Spain six points clear at the top of their group and it would take a disaster to stop them qualifying for the World Cup finals in South Africa.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2009)