David Villa said his added-time winner against Sweden made him feel "prouder" than his opening hat-trick against Russia as Spain progressed to the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO
Pride
The Carlsberg Man of the Match not only handed his country a dramatic 2-1 victory in Innsbruck but also reclaimed his place as the tournament's outright top goalscorer. The 26-year-old said of his strike: "To tell you the truth I am prouder of this goal than the three I got the other day. Today, the adrenalin was exploding. I'm so happy to score, even if I get just one I'm very happy." The Valencia CF striker was a threat throughout, but his most important contribution came in the second minute of injury time when he latched on to a Joan Capdevila through ball, skipped past Petter Hansson and finished expertly past Andreas Isaksson.
Dreams realised
"I won't be able to forget this day, nor any of the last few days," added Villa. "I always dreamed about it, but we have to be realistic, it's tough playing two games like this. The main thing is that the team has won both games; the three points, and the fact that Spain are in the next phase please me most of all." Villa has now scored 18 goals in 33 appearances for La Furia Roja but knows Sweden had given his side a sterling test: "We found it tough but deserved to win even if was in the last minute."
'Outstanding players'
Both Roy Hodgson and Jean-Paul Brigger of the UEFA Technical Team – who selected the Man of the Match award after viewing the online vote on euro2008.com – agreed that Villa made the telling difference. "He was the match-winner," said Brigger. "He scored a fantastic goal at the end of the game when it was not an easy time to score. He played really well together with [Fernando] Torres – they are both outstanding players and he is always dangerous. He fought for the team and battled to find a way through."
Mellberg in contention
The FIFA technical director went on to explain there were other candidates, but Villa's late effort tipped the balance. "We had [Olof] Mellberg as a contender too – he organised Sweden's defence with his experience against Torres and Villa which could not have been easy. Marcos Senna put in an outstanding performance too, but in the end David made the difference so we had to go with him."
Spain's chance
Spain were also imperious in the group stage of the FIFA World Cup before falling to France once the tournament reached the knockout stage, and Villa is eager to avoid a repeat in Austria and Switzerland. "We have to go on as this doesn't give us any right to anything," he said, adding of potential future opponents: "You can't compare one team with another – everyone has strengths and weaknesses. We'll see what happens."(euro2008.com)
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