Matchday 19 - Villa, King of the Iberians

Paraguay 0 - Japan 0 (Paraguay won 5-3 on penalties)
Spain 1 (Villa 63) - Portugal 0

The round of 16 matches were complete on Matchday 19 with the Iberian derby going to Spain, a 1-0 win over Portugal sending them through to the quarter finals. In the early match Paraguay won through to the quarter finals for the first time in its history after it defeated Japan 5-3 on penalties, after the teams were deadlocked at 0-0 after extra time.

But in the glamour match of the day it was the Spanish who prevailed, their 1-0 win over Portugal their first competitive win over their neighbour since 1934. In reality, the scoreline flattered the Portuguese, with the Spaniards garnering most of the possession with their magnificent passing game, and consequently doing most of the attacking. The breakthrough finally came just after the hour mark, when star striker David Villa was played in behind the watertight Portugal defence by Iniesta. Villa's initial shot was stopped by the goalkeeper, but Eduardo could do nothing about the rebound which Villa clinically dispatched into the net of the underside of the cross bar. Rather than spur the Portuguese on, the goal only led to further dominance from the Spaniards, who pushed forward looking for a second that would have killed the game off. Despite a number of close range efforts from Villa and substitute Fernando Llorente the second goal never came, and while that may have allowed Portugal to snatch a late equaliser at the death, they never really threatened to do so. A lunging dive from Capdevilla to block a Portuguese shot in the last 10 minutes was the only time their goal was really threatened. Portgual's misery was compounded when Ricardo Costa was sent off in the final minutes after his stray elbow connected with Capdevilla.

Spain now look to have an easy run to the semi-finals. Their opponent in the quarters will be Paraguay, who have reached this stage of the tournament for the first time following an anemic 0-0 draw with Japan that was finally decided on penalties, the South Americans prevailing 5-3. This was an atrocious game for this stage of the tournament but it was perhaps to be expected in a matchup between two sides that had never before advanced past the round of 16. The villain in the end was Japan's Yuichi Komano, who tragically saw his penalty cannon of the crossbar. Every other player (from both sides) made the penalty, and the match was finally brought to a close when Oscar Cardozo slotted home from Paraguay to send them into raptures. The result means that 4 of the 5 South American teams have made it to the quarter-finals, a phenomenal effort by that continent. Paraguay's run is likely to end here however as on that performance they should be smashed by the Spanish in the next round.

Quarter Final Matches - Paraguay ($5.80) v Spain ($1.20)

What We Learned - That Portugal could defend but that was about it. The Portuguese only conceded 1 goal in the whole tournament, which is fantastic. But it doesn't really help when you fail to score in three of your other 4 matches. Their attack was barren, and all a 6 goal second half against North Korea did was paper over the cracks of what was otherwise a major problem and the reason they have advanced no further in the tournament.

The Falcon's Spud of the Day - Christiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - The first two time winner of the award, Ronaldo was totally invisible in his nation's most important match for four years. While Villa and Iniesta were dragging Spain into the quarterfinals Ronaldo barely saw the ball and when he did he wasted it with ridiculous long range shots. To the casual fan you would have thought Fabio Coentrao was the Portuguese star and the former World player of the year. Ronaldo (rightfully) leaves the tournament in disgrace.

Tonight's matches - No games! And finally a chance to catch up on some sleep! Enjoy it - the action restarts Friday night with a cracker of a quarter final between the Netherlands and Brazil.

Prices courtesy of Betfair.