Moving closer to obtaining a place in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Spain was able to expand its lead in Europe’s Group 5 after crushing Belgium 5-0 this Saturday in La Coruña, Spain. Even though the team has won all seven games of the qualifiers, however, it still has not qualified for the FIFA World Cup, a fact that astounds the Spanish players. Spain’s first chance at qualifying comes this Wednesday; if the team can beat Estonia in Meridia and Bosnia-Herzegovina fails to beat Turkey, Spain will seal its place in South Africa next year. From the beginning of the match, Spain entered with great energy and determination, looking to open the score with plays by Xabi Alonso and strikers Fernando Torres, David Silva and David Villa. However, despite the easy plays, these usually incredible players missed a number of opportunities in the first half; even Villa missed a penalty. Villa did manage to redeem himself before the break, though; he assisted Silva, who smashed a shot to beat Belgian goalkeeper Jean-Francois Gillet and brought the score to 1-0 at halftime. Spain entered the second half hungry to increase the lead, and with Belgium’s vulnerable defense and nonexistent offense, the Spanish team gorged. Within the first four minutes of the second half, Fernando Torres headed the ball to Villa, who cut in from the left to score from the edge of the field. One minute later, defender Gerard Picque scored Spain’s third point after he shot a pass from Villa. In minute 68, Silva scored again for his team from the outside, scoring the Red’s fourth point. Spain sealed its fifth goal after Alonso sent in Cesc Fabregas with a perfect pass to beat an offside trap – Fabregas touched the ball to Villa, who finished the play with a powerful shot to defeat goalkeeper Gillet yet again. At the end of the match, Torres warned against complacency, saying during a press conference that his team still had room for improvement. Despite winning last year’s European Championship and enjoying this year’s incredible undefeated run in the qualifiers, Spain still needed to learn and progress in its play before next year’s World Cup. “This team is at a stage when it can still improve. We are young and we can learn and I am sure we will get better. I hope this team will give more of itself and that our best moment is still to come. Compliments can weaken you if that’s all you need to be satisfied,” said the striker. On the other hand, for Belgium, the World Cup is looking more and more distant; the team is unlikely to qualify for the title but nevertheless hopes for the best in the final three matches of the qualifiers. The Group 5 World Cup qualifiers will continue this Wednesday, September 9th, with Spain facing Estonia, Belgium facing Armenia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina playing Turkey. The best of luck to all these teams. Regardless of who wins, fans will see great football this week.