Brazil earn hard-fought 1-0 win over Spain

A sole goal from Andressa Alves just before the break earned Brazil a 1-0 win over Spain in a group E match at the Women's World Cup here on Saturday.

Neither teams could control the middle field while Brazil had more opportunities to score in the first half, but all efforts fell short until Alves's goal at the 44th minute.

Chasing a direct pass in the middle, Alves tapped the ball before the charging goal-keeper Ainhoa Tirapu. Defender Celia Jimenez saved the ball inches in front of the goal line, but Alves followed up and slotted the ball into the open net.

Spain showed no sign of fall-back as they kept pressure in the middle field in the second half, and their best chances came in the injury time when Veronica Boquete's shot hit the goalie and was cleared by Brazil's defence.

"It's an intense and balanced match. Brazil didn't give us many opportunities. We tried and had 3-4 chances to score, but we had no luck to score," Spain's head coach Ignacio Quereda said.

The top two teams of each group and the best four 3rd-placing teams will advance into the knock-out round. Collecting only one point after two matches, Spain still have chance to advance if they beat South Korea in the last round of the group stage.

"It's a very hard game. Spain made it difficult for us as we're not able to penetrate. But we adopted it and moved on to do better in the second half," Brazil's coach Vadao said. "We could have scored more goals. Two wins are enough to advance and I'll rest some starters next game."

Alves said, "It's my first goal at World Cup. The game was so hard that to score a goal in such a game is very special." Endi