Spain Train Continues to Roll

If you just look quickly at Spain's 1-0 victory over Iraq Wednesday in Confederations Cup play, it might seem like a letdown after the European's champ's 5-0 crunching of New Zealand over the weekend.

Yet, when you're on the roll like the Spanish National Team has been on for the last three years, all the victories tend to blend into one. More importantly, Wednesday's win pushed the country one shy of matching Brazil's all-time unbeaten run of 35 games.

David Villa's unmarked header in the 55th minute was all Spain needed against a determined Iraq team, which seemed hell bent on avoiding a humiliation like the one suffered by the Kiwis. In fact, in the final 15 minutes, the Iraqis took a couple dangerous shots which didn't end up too far off target.

Iraq coach Bora Milutinovic's gameplan of clogging up space for Spain almost worked, if not for the one lapse when Villa rose up for a free header right from a cross by Joan Capdevila in front of goal early in the second half.

Yet Spain, even without a second consecutive blinding performance against lesser competition, took care of business without breaking much of a sweat. The win made sure they will advance to the Confederations Cup semifinals next week and made Saturday's final group stage match with hosting South Africa retain significance as they try to tie Brazil's record.

If anything, Wednesday's match showed just how far a gap there is between Spain and everybody else, as a quality player like Cesc Fabregas was rested and Vicente del Bosque's side didn't miss a single beat. They can win in a romp or they can win while the opponent bunkering down with 10 behind the ball.

Spain is ranked No. 1 for a reason.