Posted by ESPN Stats & Information
Spain versus Paraguay, Saturday
Ellis Park Stadium -- Johannesburg
Storylines
• This is a meeting of a team that has never won a quarterfinal in four previous appearances (Spain) and a team playing in its first quarterfinal.
• Spain stands second in the FIFA rankings, 29 places ahead of Paraguay. This is the biggest disparity between teams playing in the quarterfinals.
• David Villa: Spain's striker has scored four goals in his past three games. He's finally emerged from the shadow of his more celebrated strike partner, Fernando Torres, with his spectacular goals and matador celebration.
Series history
• Spain leads 1-0-2.
What to look for
• Torres: Subbed out of the Portugal game after 58 minutes, the Liverpool superstar hasn't been his sharpest since knee surgery in April. Coach Vicente del Bosque dismissed rumors that Torres will be benched. "Our striker is Fernando," he said.
• Without Salvador Cabanas, the Paraguay forward line has struggled. Paraguay scored only three goals in group play, none of them from its forwards, and it was shut out by Japan in the round of 16.
• Paraguay road warriors: Paraguay plays its first game in Johannesburg, making five games in five different cities. It has previously played in Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Polokwane, and Pretoria. Spain is playing its second game at Ellis Park (2-0 win over Honduras).
• Paraguay's Roque Santa Cruz is now without a goal in 799 minutes at the World Cup. His last and only goal was eight years ago in a 2-2 draw with South Africa.
• Spain midfielder Xavi created eight goal-scoring chances in his last match against Portugal. No player has created more in a single game at this World Cup.
From the research room
• Torres has not played a full 90 minutes for Spain since its Confederations Cup defeat to the United States in June 2009 -- a run of 11 matches. In comparison to his strike partner Villa, Torres has been quiet to say the least. The Liverpool striker has attempted just two shots on target in four games and has a woeful shooting accuracy of 22 percent -- down from 43.8 percent in the qualifiers.
• Excluding friendlies, Spain is 17-2-0 under del Bosque, and it has outscored its opponents by 33 goals in those 19 games (44-11). Spain was held goalless in its only two losses in those games (by the U.S. in the 2009 Confederations Cup; Switzerland in group play). No team has scored more than two goals against Spain in any of those 19 games.
• Lucas Barrios had 19 goals for Borussia Dortmund this season. Over the past 10 seasons, only three other players have had that many goals in their first season in the Bundesliga: Luca Toni, 24 for Bayern Munich in 2007-08; Theofanis Gekas, 20 for VfL Bochum in 2006-07; and Roy Makaay, 23 for Bayern Munich in 2003-04.