Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Villa Full Of Praise For Unselfish Torres

David Villa strengthened his reputation as one of Europe's most lethal finishers with his hat-trick in Spain's 4-1 drubbing of Russia.

The 26-year-old took his international tally to 17 goals in 32 games with his Euro 2008 Group D treble at the Tivoli Neu stadium in Innsbruck on Tuesday.

Villa has a significantly better strike rate than attacking partner Fernando Torres, who has scored 15 goals in 50 games for his country and has only found the net twice for Spain since the last World Cup.

But Villa, who notched 18 league goals last season despite a difficult campaign at troubled Valencia, praised Torres for his unselfish work and explained why he had gone over to the bench to celebrate his hat-trick with his substituted team mate.

"I scored two goals benefiting from his work," Villa told a news conference on Wednesday. "He did the unseen work and I got the credit and that's why I celebrated with him."

Villa said he hurt his finger when he got it tangled in Torres's shirt as the two celebrated the first goal but described the injury as nothing important.

When Luis Aragones named his squad for Euro 2008 the main talking point in the Spanish media was the absence of former captain Raul but Villa's neatly-taken treble has helped lay that debate to rest.

Although Villa, who wears the number seven shirt once favoured by Raul, said Tuesday's performance may not have been his most complete, he called it his most memorable.

"It was my best game because of the circumstances. It was our opening game in Euro 2008, we won and I got three goals," said the striker.

Villa said he had English-speaking team mates Pepe Reina and Xabi Alonso to thank for getting Austrian referee Konrad Plautz to agree to give him the match ball as a souvenir of his hat-trick.

"The referee said he couldn't give it to me because of a UEFA rule but Pepe and Xabi Alonso talked to him in English and managed to get the ball for me."

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