Spain 2 - Belarus 1

Belarus were on the road against Spain in Palma.  Spain were surprisingly ineffective in the first half, and indeed it would be Belarus who were more creative in the opening period.  Vitali Rodionov nearly scored on a corner, but Spain goalkeeper Victor Valdes just managed to keep him out.

Spain began applying legitimate pressure to the Belarusian goal in the second half.  On the hour mark, some unfortunate clearance attempts by Belarus led to Spain's opener.  Xavi Hernandez hit an excellent strike off a weak headed clearance by Egor Filipenko that zoomed into the net and gave Spain hope for victory.  A ridiculous back heel no-look pass from Pedro Rodriguez gave Sergio Ramos the ball in space on his overlapping run.  Ramos smacked a cross into the six-yard box that was finished by the diving header of Alvaro Negredo to make it 2-0.  Ramos almost made it three for Spain, but his dipping effort was kept out by Belarus goalkeeper Aleksandr Gutor.  A careless pass by Spain in their own half sprung a break for the visitors.  Sergei Kornilenko received the through ball and used his pace to get free into the box.  Kornilenko finished well to the far post, but it was too little too late.  Spain win 2-1 and need only a draw at home on Tuesday to advance to Brasil 2014.

Spain 17 pts +9
France 14 pts +6
Finland OUT
Georgia OUT
Belarus OUT

Goals
Spain
Xavi Hernandez 61
Alvaro Negredo 78

Belarus
Sergei Kornilenko 89

Match Reports:
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2013/10/11/4829164/spain-vs-belarus-uefa-world-cup-qualifying-final-score-result
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/12/spain-xavi-negredo-belarus-world-cup
http://www.goal.com/en/match/92608/spain-vs-belarus/report

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAxhYKcohXM