Spain through to semifinals after beating Iraq

Iraq coach Bora Milutinovic may not have a great team at his disposal, but his tactical skills restricted a team regarded by many as the best in the world to a 1-0 victory in the Confederations Cup Wednesday.

Following a dour 0-0 draw against South Africa on the competition's opening day Sunday and Wednesday's 1-0 defeat to European champion Spain, Iraq still have a slim chance of qualifying for the semi final, even if its ultra defensive playing style has not made it many friends.

On Wednesday, Iraq fell to David Villa's 55th minute header, but the Asian champions have one point from their two games.

"I'm very, very happy for the way my team played," the Serbian coach said. "Especially to play against a team like Spain in this way, when we didn't have so much time to prepare for this game."

The only man to have coached five different teams at a World Cup, Milutinovic opted to rest four of his starters from the 0-0 draw with South Africa. That's because he had one eye on Iraq's third group game against New Zealand, which lost its opening game 5-0 to the Spaniards.

In Bloemfontein, Milutinovic appeared content to concede the three points to the Spaniards and concentrate on trying to grab three points from the final group game.

While the Iraqis worked hard to stop the Spaniards scoring more, it wasn't a great advert for attacking football.

Milutinovic put six defenders into his starting lineup and, for most of the game, had five of them at the back to keep Fernando Torres and David Villa quiet.

Meanwhile lone striker Alaa Abdul Zahra was frequently the only player in Spain's half and, although he tested goalkeeper Iker Casillas with a firm low shot in the eighth minute, it was the only save the Real Madrid 'keeper had to make.

Iraq's negative tactics captured a point against South Africa and, for 54 minutes at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, they worked again.

That was until David Villa, who had missed two easy chances, was left unmarked to guide a header from Joan Capdevila's leftwing cross inside the far post.

Although by now a goal behind, the 64-year-old Serb didn't change his tactics with 10 men still behind the ball whenever Spain had it and Zahra working alone up front.

He eventually sent on another striker, Younis Mahmoud, but that was only to relieve the exhausted Xahra.

"They played very intelligently and with great discipline," Milutinovic said of his team. "We played like that because these are the players we have."

AP