By DPA,
Johannesburg : Spain and Portugal scored handsome friendly victories Tuesday in their last warm-up matches before the World Cup finals.
Spain thrashed feeble Poland 6-0 in Murcia, and Portugal beat former colony Mozambique 3-0 earlier Tuesday in Johannesburg.
The Iberian neighbours are among the favourites for the World Cup, though neither has ever progressed beyond the semi-finals.
Spain were given a warm send-off by the fans in Murcia after tearing apart the hapless Polish defence with the kind of slick passing game that took them to triumph at Euro 2008.
“We really enjoyed ourselves tonight,” said striker David Villa, who scored the first goal.
“Now we have to take our football style with us to South Africa.”
One of six Barcelona players to start the match, Villa shot Spain ahead in the 13th minute on a clever centre from Andres Iniesta.
Two minutes later, Iniesta released Xavi with an imaginative lob, and the latter squared for David Silva to make it 2-0 at ease.
Iniesta, who missed most of last season with muscle injuries, then limped off with a strained right thigh but should be fit for Spain’s World Cup debut against Switzerland on June 16 in Durban. Chile and Honduras are Spain’s other Group H opponents.
Seven minutes into the second half, Xabi Alonso made it 3-0 for the hosts with a low drive, which took a wicked deflection off defender Karol Zewlakov.
Six minutes later, Alonso set up Cesc Fabregas to score with an angled drive, and 13 minutes from time diminutive winger Pedro set up Fernando Torres to make it 5-0.
The Fabregas and Torres goals were particularly good news for Spanish fans after both players missed the end of the season with serious injuries.
“It was lovely to score,” Torres said. “Things have been difficult for me recently.”
While warning against “excessive optimism,” he noted: “If we play like this in South Africa, it will be difficult for us to be beaten.”
Pedro completed the rout with an impish chip, his first goal for La Roja.
Earlier Tuesday, Portugal made light work of Mozambique in Johannesburg, thanks to second-half goals from Danny and Hugo Almeida.
Although Mozambique managed to hit a post in the first half, the Black Mambas were clearly second best to a Portugal side that started with star player Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench and without Nani, who pulled out of the tournament earlier in the day because of injury.
Portugal’s opening goal at the Wanderers Stadium came 51 minutes when Danny broke the offside trap before finishing clinically.
The biggest cheer of the night, however, came 11 minutes later when Ronaldo was finally introduced, and the Real Madrid player’s first action of note came on 67 minutes when he saw a long-range free-kick blocked.
Portugal finally netted the second goal that their pressure deserved on 74 minutes when Danny broke down the left for Almeida to slot the ball into the empty net.
Ronaldo played a part in Portugal’s third score when his low effort from outside the area was parried into the path for Almeida to fire home.
Portugal open their World Cup campaign against Ivory Coast on June 15 in Port Elizabeth. The rest of Group G is made up by North Korea and five-time World Cup winners Brazil, another former Portuguese colony.