BERLIN -- Spain may be about to shake off its tag as World Cup underachiever.
A perennial disappointment in the tournament, Spain trailed Tunisia for much
of Monday's game before scoring three late goals for a 3-1 win and a place in
the second round.
Switzerland and Ukraine each won to move a step closer to qualifying from
their first-round groups. Switzerland beat Togo 2-0, while Ukraine trounced
Saudi Arabia 4-0.
Spain trailed in Stuttgart after an eighth-minute goal by Tunisia's Jahwar
Menari and appeared set for a surprising loss before a 71st-minute equalizer by
Raul Gonzalez and two goals from Fernando Torres.
For his first, Torres collected a pass at the halfway line, took two quick
touches and flicked the ball past the goalkeeper with the outside of his right
boot from the edge of the penalty area.
His second goal was a 90th-minute penalty kick awarded when a defender held
Torres to stop him from jumping for a header. That goal made him the
tournament's leading scorer with three.
Having beaten Ukraine 4-0 in its opener, Spain has six points in Group H and
is the eighth team to reach the second round. Its best World Cup showing was a
fourth-place finish in 1950.
Defending champion Brazil, host Germany, Argentina, the Netherlands, England,
Portugal and Ecuador are already into the last 16. Tunisia must beat Ukraine on
Friday in its last game to have a chance to advance.
Togo was eliminated and Saudi Arabia looks likely to join the African team.
Alexander Frei's performance in Dortmund helped Switzerland to a win that
means it needs only a draw against South Korea in its last Group G game to
guarantee a spot in the second round.
"We all know he can be even more efficient than we saw today, but he's coming
back from a long injury period," Switzerland coach Koebi Kuhn said. "He can only
improve."
Frei gave Switzerland the lead in the 16th minute, heading in a pass from
Tranquillo Barnetta. Frei missed a chance to score in front of an open net early
in the second half, but Barnetta added another in the 88th with a 17-yard shot.
In Hamburg, Andriy Shevchenko got a header and Serhiy Rebrov scored one of
the best goals of the tournament in Ukraine's win against Saudi Arabia, which
was unable to muster a single shot on goal.
Andriy Rusol had already scored from a corner, the ball bouncing off his knee
and into the goal, then Rebrov hit a 35-yard shot into the right-hand corner of
the net in the 36th minute.
Shevchenko made it 3-0 in the 46th and, with four minutes remaining, set up
Maxim Kalinichenko for the final goal that completed a turnaround from the
team's opening loss to Spain.
"I think our chances of going all the way are not huge because there are
stronger teams, but we will fight," Ukraine coach Oleh Blokhin said.
