Spain crush Belarus ahead of French showdown

World and European champions Spain
warmed up for their Group I
showdown with France next Tuesday
as Pedro Rodriguez fired a hat-trick in
a convincing 4-0 victory over Belarus
on Friday.
The win moved them alongside
France on six points after two
matches of their 2014 World Cup
qualifying campaign.
A cagey start to the encounter was
soon broken open as Spain struck
twice in eight first-half minutes thanks
to Jordi Alba and Pedro who eased
early nerves and set the defending
champions on their way to a rousing
win.
They grabbed the early goal they
wanted after just 12 minutes when
Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba played
a neat one-two with club teammate
Xavi before slotting the ball past
Belaurus 'keeper Sergey Veremko for
his second international goal.
Vicente Del Bosque's men then began
to take control of possession and
played a slick passing game that had
the home side chasing shadows
before another incisive move led to
the second goal.
Manchester City playmaker David Silva
found space deep in the Belarus half
on 21 minutes and played a defence-
splitting pass that allowed Barcelona
striker Pedro to get behind defender
Igor Shitov and chip the ball over the
on-rushing Veremko to pad the
visitors' lead.
It was the fifth goal in 21 matches for
Pedro who was included in the side at
the expense of Chelsea striker
Fernando Torres and Barcelona's
David Villa who were both left on the
bench at the outset.
Belarus had little to offer and wilted
after the break when Pedro struck
again on 69 minutes following
another brilliant pass from Xavi and
then doused any hopes of a
comeback as he completed his hat-
trick three minutes later when the
home defence collapsed.
"We played a good match and were
very complete," said Del Bosque. "The
players were relaxed from the
beginning and played well together,
with depth and recovered the ball
well."
"The talent of the players did the rest.
Amongst them, Pedro stood out who
has been great for his club recently.
He is fresh, dynmanic with a good
aggressive approach and he gives a
bit of variety to our normal game
which is to play it to feet."
Real Madrid 'keeper Iker Casillas was
forced into a fine save from Andrey
Chukhley with five minutes remaining
to protect his clean sheet but Spain
were always in control and played out
the match in composed fashion to
keep them on par with the French
ahead of their showdown next
Tuesday in Madrid.
"Against France on Tuesday, we are
playing a complicated opponent
because they have a great squad with
very good players and strikers who
play deep. On top of that, they have
some very physical players. It is going
to be a demanding match". added Del
Bosque.
They now have maximum points from
two matches after a pair of tough
away games that saw them triumph
1-0 over Georgia in their opener at
Tbilisi.
Belarus slumped to their third straight
defeat after losing to Georgia and
France as they face a mountain to
climb in a bid to qualify for their first
ever World Cup.
Georgia moved up to third in the pool
on four points as they battled to a 1-1
draw in Helsinki against Finland which
were the first points for the
Scandinavians.