It is certainly a good day to be David Villa, and definitely not a good day to be Antonios Nikopolidis. These two men played pivotal roles in this afternoon's Group D action. Of course, David Villa is a bit more excited about his outcome than Antonios. In the closing minutes of the Spain-Sweden match, Villa connected with a long ball, slipped past the defender Hansen, and popped a game winner just past the keeper on the breakaway. The 2-1 win gives Spain 6 points at the top of the Group and assures their advancement to the next round. Meanwhile, Nikopolidis probably shouldn't hang around Greece for the next few weeks. The veteran keeper celebrated his 89th international cap by straying WAY too far form the area on a lazy cross, losing possession, and giving the Russians an easy goal on the open net. Greece was unable to recover from the early deficit and struggled to find their confidence for the rest of the match. Already forced to play a more aggressive style, they never seemed to settle into a rhythm. Falling 1-0 to Russia, the Greeks are now mathematically eliminated from the group stage and become the first defending champs to lose the first two group matches the following year.
