June 14, 2006
TOUGH START FOR UKRAINE
Lose to Spain 4-0

LEIPZIG, Germany --- Traditional underachievers Spain put on the most dominating performance of this World Cup to date, handing the Ukraine a crushing 4-0 defeat at the Zentralstadion Wednesday.

David Villa led the way for the Spaniards, with two goals.

The Spaniards opened the floodgates in the 13th minute with Xabi Alonso�s first international goal, going up to head a corner kick past Ukranian goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovsky.

Villa, playing in his first World Cup, netted the first of his two goals in the 17th minute. After Ukaraine�s Andriy Rusol was yellow carded, Villa banked a 20-yard free kick off the wall, glancing the shot off Rusol and past Shovkovsky.

Ukraine held the score at 2-0 until just after the half, when the referee assisted in giving Spain a further lead.

With Fernando Torres going in on a breakaway, Vladyslav Vashchuk clearly tugged at the Spaniard�s shorts outside the penalty area. As the two continued their run however, Torres fell in the area, and Vashckuk was ejected.

Villa neatly tucked the penalty shot to the near post just under Shovkovsky, who managed to get a hand on the shot.

Villa narrowly missed out on a hat trick just w few moments later, blasting an eight-yard shot right at the Ukranian keeper.

After subbing out both Villa and Xabi Alonso, for David Albelda and Raul, in the 55th minute, Luis Aragone�s side continued to pressure the shorthanded Ukranians.

Raul nearly found the net in the 68th minute, with a downward header that was stopped by Shovkovsky. Six minutes later, Raul nicely set up Sergio Ramos, who could not get off the shot.

Finally, the pressure paid off for Spain, as Carlos Puyol worked to get free at the midfield, winning the ball twice before sending it through into the path of Fernando Torres, who struck the ball in full stride from the top of the 18, ripping it into the net.

Spain dominated completely, and effectively shut down Ukaraine captain Andriy Shevchenko. The shots were 19-5 in favor of the Spaniards.

Spain
Iker Castillas; Mariano Pernia, Carlos Puyol, Sergio Ramos, Pablo; Xavi, Xabi Alonso (David Albelda-54), Senna Marcos; Fernando Torres, Luis Garcia (Cesc Fabregas-76), David Villa (Raul-54).

Ukraine
Oleksandr Shovkovski; Andriy Nesmachnyi, Vladimir Yezerskyi, Andriy Rusol, Vladyslav Vashchuk; Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Oleg Gusev (Oleg Shelayev-45), Andriy Gusin (Andriy Vorobey-45), Ruslan Rotan (Serhiy Rebrov-63); Andriy Shevchenko, Andriy Voronin.

Goals
Spain -- Xabi Alonso 13
Spain -- David Villa 17
Spain -- David Villa (penalty kick) 48
Spain -- Fernando Torres 81

Discipline
Ukraine -- Andriy Rusol (yellow card) 17
Ukraine -- Vladyslav Vashchuk (red card) 47
Ukraine -- Vladimir Yezerskyi (yellow card) 53

Attendance -- 43,000