Confederations Cup: New Zealand 0-5 Spain

South Africa and Iraq drew in the Confederations Cup opener earlier today, so football geeks around the globe tuned into Spain v New Zealand hoping for the tournament's first goal.

Spain's unparalleled football in Euro 2008 and Barcelona's awesome demolition of Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final had supporters salivating in anticipation as the game began. For the record, New Zealand were a lengthy 22/1 to win this evening.

In the end it was a training match.

Spain's trademark one-touch passing made itself evident in the very first minute, setting a terrifying tone for New Zealand. They started positively and took just six minutes to take the lead. A simple pass found Fernando Torres in acres of space on the edge of the area. The Liverpool striker wasn't closed down and bent a lovely shot into the top corner.

In the 14th minute, it was Fernando Torres who scored once again. His Liverpool colleague Albert Riera cut in from the left and played a delightful through ball to Villa who found Torres waiting to tuck the ball confidently into the bottom corner. And in truth, it had been coming. Two minutes later, Villa was denied when attempting an identical finish.

And in the 17th minute it was three. Fernando Torres thumped in a header for his hat-trick after being picked out in between four New Zealand defenders by Joan Capdevila. An embarrassment began to look more than likely.

No sooner had New Zealand recovered from the third than Spain hit a fourth. A cheeky reverse pass found Capdevila in a ludicrous amount of space inside the area and he chose to roll the ball to Cesc Fabregas, who made no mistake from six yards. 4-0 to Spain with less than 25 minutes gone, and my bet on 5-0 was beginning to look hugely unambitious.

In the 27th minute New Zealand's Jeremy Brockie had their first shot on goal, chesting down a deflected cross and volleying well wide. It was to be his last act of the match, as the resulting goal kick triggered the substitution that awaited him.

Ten minutes of slow improvement for New Zealand was punctuated with Spanish attempts on goal and came to an end with nothing gained, despite a header from Chris Killen which brought a comfortable save in the 39th minute from Iker Casillas.

The Spanish stopper was in action again in the 44th minute, turning a swerving free kick wide to concede a corner as New Zealand looked to finish the first half strongly. In truth, Spain took their foot off the pedal after their fourth goal. New Zealand came into the game slightly at the end of the half.

They started the second half as they ended the first, but were 5-0 down within seconds. Torres skinned three men on the wing and scuffed his cross. But you can never say never when there are New York Red Bulls defenders around, and Andy Boyens' clearance struck nothing but air, leaving David Villa with a tap-in.

The chances kept coming for Spain but their clinical finishing deserted them throughout a largely uneventful second period and the game reached its finale with the score down to five. A much improved New Zealand side created a couple of chances and put together one or two nice passing moves in the second half, but Spain were, ultimately, always in control.