Spain's 10-goal Tahiti win their biggest in 30 years

Jun 21, 2013 9:00:00 AM

 

La Roja racked up double figures for only the third time in their history on Thursday at the Maracana, becoming the first team to do so in the final stages of a Fifa competition

Spain v Tahiti: Group B - FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil

ANALYSIS
By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer

Spain's 10-0 win over Tahiti in the Confederations Cup on Thursday was the third-largest win in the history of la Roja and the third time la Seleccion have hit double figures in an international fixture. It was also the first time any team had won by a 10-goal margin in the finals of any Fifa tournament.

Spain ran riot in Rio with four goals from Fernando Torres, a David Villa hat-trick, a David Silva double and a solitary strike by Juan Mata to all but seal a place in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup.

SPAIN'S 10 GREATEST GOLEADAS
Spain 13-0 Bulgaria Spain 12-1 Malta Spain 10-0 Tahiti Spain 9-0 Portugal Spain 9-0 Albania Spain 9-0 Austria Spain 9-0 San Marino Spain 8-0 Cyprus Spain 8-1 France Spain 7-0 Cyprus	Friendly Euro qualifier Confed Cup WC qualifier Euro qualifier Euro qualifier Euro qualifier Euro qualifier Friendly Euro qualifier	1933 1981 2013 1934 1990 1999 1999 1999 1929 1971

The scoreline equalled Tahiti's largest loss - the Pacific Islanders' 10-0 defeat to New Zealand in 2004 - but was some way short of Spain's record victory - a 13-0 friendly win over Bulgaria in 1933.

That came in Madrid less than two months before the Spanish Civil War and included six strikes from Galician great Chacho. And it took Spain another 50 years to reach double figures for a second time - the famous 12-1 at home to Malta (featuring four apiece from Santillana and Poli Rincon) which sealed qualification for the European Championship the following year, when the team coached by Miguel Munoz finished as runners-up to France.

The French were beaten 8-1 by Spain, however, in a friendly in Zaragoza back in 1929 (when Gaspar Rubio hit four), while Cyprus suffered two thrashings at the hands of la Roja - 8-0 in 1999 (with three apiece from Ismael Urzaiz and Julen Guerrero) and 7-0 in 1971 (including two each for Pirri and Quino). Both games were European Championship qualifiers