Llorente header gives Spain unconvincing win in World Cup warm-up
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A header from striker Fernando Llorente in the last minute of injury time gave Spain an unconvincing 3-2 win over Saudi Arabia in their first preparation game on Saturday ahead of next month's World cup finals.
The game was played in Innsbruck, where Spain has happy memories of the 2008 European Championships, but the Spanish performance was not what was expected of the reigning European champions and one of the favorites for the World Cup.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque opted to include Andres Iniesta in his starting 11, looking to give the Barcelona midfielder minutes on the pitch after a season plagued by injury.
With Fernando Torres still not match fit as a result of his knee injury, Del Bosque opted to start with David Silva and David Villa in attack, while two more Barcelona players, Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Busquets, partnered Iniesta in midfield.
If the Spanish were expecting an easy game against a Saudi Arabian side that had failed to qualify for the World Cup, they were to be surprised. Saudi Arabia started brightly and were rewarded after 16 minutes when defender Osama Hawsawi scored with a powerful header from a corner.
Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who had already looked nervous on a couple of occasions, was partly to blame with an ill judged attempt to come off his line and claim the cross.
The Spanish began to wake up and equalized after 31 minutes. Iniesta did well on the left before crossing for Villa to score with a neat header into the top corner.
Sergio Ramos could have put Spain ahead before the break, but his header from a corner was just the wrong side of the post. The second half saw Spain take the initiative but without creating clear cut chances until the hour, when they took the lead. Iniesta was at the heart of the move, threading a pass to Xavi, but although the ball was cut out by the Saudi defense, it fell to Xabi Alonso, whose side-footed shot was deflected past Saudi keeper Waleed Ali.
Del Bosque then made four changes, with debutant Pedro Rodriguez among the substitutes along with Jesus Navas. Navas put one magnificent cross into the area that Villa was unable to make contact with, before Saudi Arabia equalized with 16 minutes remaining.
Al Sahlawi was given too much space at the end of the Spain area and his shot took a deflection off the back of his team-mate Sultan Al Numare to bypass Casillas.
That was the moment Del Bosque chose to hand his Spain debut to Javi Martinez, but it was his Athletic Club Bilbao clubmate Fernando Llorente who sealed Spain's unconvincing win.
Spain's next warm-up game is also in Austria when they play South Korea next Thursday.
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