If you were to walk into a bar in America and poll the average sports fan -- one with at least a casual interest in world soccer -- who the best "footballer" on the planet is, the usual names would probably bubble to the surface.

Lionel Messi. Wayne Rooney. Cristiano Ronaldo. Fernando Torres. ... Or even the fading one-time king of the world Ronaldinho.

One name you're probably not going to hear surface in any of those hypothetical conversations is Spanish striker David Villa, who when you boil it all down might be the best purer goal-scorer going at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Villa was once again the man on target for Spain, scoring the game's only goal Tuesday against Iberian Peninsula rival Portugal in a 1-0 win in Cape Town. It pushed his haul to four at the 2010 World Cup, including the incredible long-range chip vs. Chile earlier this week, and seven for his career.

---

---

Spain's victory sets up a date with Paraguay in the quarterfinals Saturday in Johannesburg. It also made group winners 7-for-8 in the Round of 16 with the U.S. being the only upset victim in the Round of 16.

Villa's 62nd minute goal -- set up on a pretty sequence of tic-tac passing from his future Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi -- was his 42nd in 62 appearances for Spain. Do the math and the 28-year-old striker is scoring at a better than every-other-game clip making him nearly as automatic as finding shrieking tweens lined up for opening night at a "Twilight" flick.

Beyond Villa's sterling goals per game average, he's also scored at least two goals on nine separate occasions for Spain, including a hat trick vs. Russia, helping him to the Euro 2008 Golden Boot.

Remarkably, Villa's scoring rate for Spain is even better than what he piled up the last five seasons at Valencia, where he scored 107 times in 166 games for Los Che.


Share
Oh, and it's worth mentioning Villa joined Barcelona for nearly $50 million transfer fee in May before the World Cup began. There he'll team up with Messi, Iniesta and Xavi -- who's cheeky back heel at the top of the penalty area sprung Villa for Tuesday's only goal.

Barcelona only went 31-1-6 last season, piling up 98 goals in the process in winning La Liga.

Villa joining the Blaugrana would be like the New York Yankees signing Albert Pujols to play designated hitter.

But that's for discussion after the World Cup culminates on July 11 in Johannesburg, a place Spain might find itself if Villa continues to find the back of the net.

Much like the Euro 2008 final when it beat Germany, one goal was enough for Spain Tuesday against a dogged Portugal side which went through Group G -- the presumed "Group of Death" -- without conceding a goal.

Spain began testing Portugal keeper Eduardo almost immediately with both Fernando Torres and Villa firing bending shots from the left channel outside the box. Torres -- who scored that winner two years ago in Austria -- played better than the previous three games, but the Liverpool star was eventually substituted off for Fernando Llorente in the 58th minute.

In what was mainly a cagey tactical first half between the No. 2 and 3 ranked teams in the world, Portugal might have lodged the best chance in the 20th minute through a long range effort from Tiago. Spain keeper Iker Casillas tried to parry it away over the bar, but didn't get enough power to push the ball away, allowing Hugo Almeida to nearly nudge it into the goal before the Real Madrid goalkeeper recovered to fully grasp the ball.

Finally, in the 62nd minute, Villa broke the deadlock, running onto Xavi's back heel and beating Eduardo on the second effort off his own rebound. It was a tough break for Eduardo, who'd turned away the previous 16 shots on target during the tournament.

On the other end, Ronaldo is left to wait another two years for a break through on the international level with his country.

Ronaldo is a household name in the U.S., but that didn't help him against Spain

The Real Madrid mega-star threatened early with a couple deep free kicks -- each gobbled up by Casillas -- but couldn't come up with a moment to propel Portugal to another level. Ronaldo eventually drifted to a more central forward role for the final 30 minutes when Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz subbed off Almeida in favor of attacking midfielder Danny.

Ronaldo's greatness once again failed to translate with Portugal, where he was unable to lift his teammates either through the run of play or a dead ball situation. Ronaldo is still only 25, but the window is rapidly closing on his chance to push his international play to the transcendent level we've seen at both Manchester United and now Real Madrid.

Ronaldo's exit also means that Nike's "Write the Future" viral video hit proved to be more of a curse than a blessing.

Perhaps we should have seen this coming, since the ad featured Ronaldinho, who didn't even make the final squad for Brazil. As it stands Didier Drogba and Fabio Cannavaro both went home early as Ivory Coast and Italy failed to advance from the group stages. Ronaldo joins his former Manchester United running mate -- Wayne Rooney -- exiting South Africa in the Round of 16. At least Ronaldo scored once at the World Cup, one better than the out-of-sorts Rooney.

It's probably why a version featuring Robinho -- who is on the Brazil team -- started surfacing mid-tournament.

Meanwhile, the comically overwrought Adidas ads featuring Villa and Messi in a "contest of speed" narrated by former France star Zinedine Zidane, which ESPN seemingly runs at every World Cup commercial break, seems to have had no ill effects on its stars.

In fact, Villa and Messi could make Zidane's fictional monotone a reality with Spain and Argentina possibly meeting in the semifinals next week.

Perhaps by then Villa's name and face will be a little more recognizable to American fans.