Aragones full of Villa praise

Spain coach commends Sweden performance

By Laura Slatcher   Last updated: 14th June 2008

Aragones full of Villa praise

Aragones: Villa praise

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Spain coach Luis Aragones heaped praise on David Villa describing his match-winning goal against Sweden as "almost impossible".

Villa scored his fourth goal of the tournament deep into injury time to ensure Spain progressed to the quarter-finals with two victories from two.

Spain had gone ahead in the first half when Fernando got his first of the tournament before Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalised for Sweden.

Villa's goal saw him win his second man of the match award for the tournament, helping Spain extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches, and also left a huge impression on Aragones.

"We were fortunate to have Villa, who scored a goal which was almost impossible to score," said Aragones.

Fortunate

"If you look at it from outside you wonder just how he managed to score it.

"Spain managed to get the upper hand, I think we were better. I think in the second half they were very tired from the first. I think we were masters of the game."

Villa scored the first hat-trick of the competition in Spain's first game against Russia but revealed he was more pleased with his goal against Sweden.

"To tell you the truth I am prouder of this goal than the three I scored the other day," said Villa.

"I'm so happy. It's good for me to be able to be there for Spain and help win us the three points. Let's hope that things carry on like this."

Respect

Aragones also reserved praise for Sweden who suffered their first loss of the tournament having beaten Greece 2-0 in their opener.

"I respect Sweden, they play long balls but they play them well," added Aragones.

"Sweden made it physical, and worked very hard in the first half. After that we had more of the ball.

"It was difficult to score against them because they had five players in defence.

"We had control of the ball, we did not have many chances because they defended very well.

"We had a few chances that we could have scored from though, and I think we deserved the win."