Though even the likes of Tahiti coach Eddy Etaeta didn't expect a victory over Spain, initial predictions of a clobbering only proved half true, with Spain stealing the win in a shut out 10-0 in Thursday's Confederations Cup match. Early predictions stated that World Cup champions Spain would overtake the Pacific Islanders perhaps by 15 or 20 goals. Still, this is the largest margin in a Confederations Cup match. The title previously belonged to Brazil with six as the squad defeated Saudi Arabia, 8-2, in 1999 and Australia, 6-0, in 1997, CBC Soccer reported.
Two players on Spain's squad got a hat trick during the complete assault of the Tahitians, with Fernando Torres scoring four goals -- missing a chance to make it five late in the game on a penalty kick -- and David Villa scoring three. David Silva scored two for the squad while Juan Mata scored one. Although Tahiti was clearly left in the dust by its Group B opponent, the squad showed a valiant effort, even winning over the crowd of Brazilians who cheered them on and booed Spain on several occasions. This was Tahiti's first time being pitted against a European team, Reuters reported.
"Often inferior teams look to break up the game and get aggressive, they play without spirit or hope. Standards aside, Tahiti showed a great example of how to go about playing football," Torres told reporters. "We have tried to show them respect in every sense. We tried to play well, to play simple football, and to score goals and these goals will be important for the next stage."
The first goal arrived in the first five minutes of play when Torres wedged a goal between an open spot left by Tahiti's goaltender Mikael Roche between himself and the post. Roche, however, proved to be a crowd favorite as the game went on, garnering cheers for some of his most notable saves throughout the game, particularly in the second half when his squad was down, 7-0. Tahiti entered the match having lost 6-1 to Nigeria and is set to face off against Uruguay for a Sunday match. Tahiti is ranked 138th in the world.
Spain led by four at the end of the first 45, asserting its dominance the entirely of the match. Still, Tahiti arrived on good terms, draping trinkets around the necks of Spanish players at the start of the match as a symbol of friendliness. Coach Etaeta conceded later that his team was disappointed that it was unable to score.
"They would have loved to have scored one single goal," he said. "It didn't happen, there's something missing really. They're a bit disappointed."
The largest margin of victory in a FIFA match ever record was 31 goals when Australia shut out American Samoa in 2001 during a World Cup qualifier. The largest win ever was during a protest match in which Stade Olympique de l'Emyrne scored 149 own-goals when playing AS Adema in Madagascar to make a statement about alleged unfair refereeing. AS Adema won the match, 149-0.
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