Spain crush Poland 6-0 in World Cup warmup
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Spain produced an assured display in its last World Cup warmup match to rout Poland 6-0 with a performance that will see them fly out to South Africa with morale sky high.
The reigning European Champions gave a display of the passing game that took them to European glory two years ago and look to be hitting form at exactly the right time.
The only worrying news for the Spanish was that Andres Iniesta, who was involved in Spain's first two goals, had to leave the pitch with a possible thigh injury before halftime
With the exception of Fernando Torres, who is still not 100 percent fit following his knee operation last April, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque began the game with a side very close to that which is likely to kick off its World Cup campaign against Switzerland on June 16.
Del Bosque did opt to rest right back Sergio Ramos with Alvaro Arbeloa moving over from the left, where Joan Capdevila was given his chance.
Spain played with Xavi Hernandez, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets in the midfield, while in the absence of Torres, Iniesta, David Villa and David Silva made up an attacking trident.
Meanwhile the Poles, who are preparing a team to compete in the 2012 European Championships, in which they will be joint hosts, began with a young side that looked to pressure Spain deep in the Spanish half.
Spain had needed late goals in its previous friendly games, which they won 3-2 against Saudi Arabia and 1-0 against South Korea and they struggled for 11 minutes before scoring two goals in two minutes.
Iniesta was the architect of both goals, setting up Villa to score from close range with a pass from the left after 12 minutes and then producing a marvelous chip over the Polish defense for Barcelona teammate Xavi who had beaten the offside trap. Xavi squared the ball to allow Silva a simple tap in to double Spain's lead.
The Spanish were in control, while their rivals only managed one shot on target, but Peszko's effort from the right was saved by Iker Casillas, before another neat combination from the Spanish saw another Villa effort saved by Polish keeper Kuszczak.
Iniesta's physical problems saw him replaced by Pedro Rodriguez, but only a couple of wayward final passes stopped the Spanish adding a third goal before the break.
Xabi Alonso made it 3-0 six minutes into the second half with a finish from a Xavi free kick. Xavi was replaced by Cesc Fabrigas soon afterwards and the Arsenal midfielder made it 4-0 after 58 minutes as Alonso turned provider.
Fernando Torres finally got into the action with 25 minutes remaining, replacing Villa and he wasted little time in getting on the scoresheet with a close range finish from Cesc's low pass.
Pedro made it 6-0 with a chip over the Kuszczak and Navas almost made it 7, with a powerful shot as Spain hammered home the message that they are among the favorites to win their first ever World Cup.
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