López lights the way for Spain

López treble
López rattled off three first-half goals in a dazzling display that took him to the top of the scorers' charts with four goals, and gave Spain a seemingly insurmountable lead against Jordan. But two goals within ten minutes of the restart by Loiy Al Zaideh and Abdallah Salim – a delightful free-kick from 23 metres – gave Spain cause for concern until Marcos García secured the group win with a header eleven minutes from time. "I'm pleased with the three goals and the fact we met our target of winning the group," said López, who plays for RC Deportivo la Coruña. "The team is the most important thing and not who scored the goals. From now on we're going to have to keep on improving, as the most difficult part of the tournament starts now."

Uruguay relief
Zambia came second to Spain in Group B after completing a 2-0 win against Uruguay, who nonetheless progressed to the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed finishers. Clifford Mulenga scored the opening goal from the penalty spot after Uruguay goalkeeper Mauro Goicoechea had brought down Emmanuel Mayuka. Goicoechea was sent off for his troubles but Zambia were also reduced to ten men when Henry Nyambe was dismissed for a late challenge on Mauricio Prieto. The African side doubled their lead in the second half, though, through Rodgers Kola, leaving Uruguay relieved to qualify with four points from their three matches.

Ezenwa heroics
Zambia will meet Nigeria in the next stage of the tournament after goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa performed heroics to keep Japan at bay and ensure a 0-0 draw that saw both sides through to the Round of 16, where Japan will face the Czech Republic. Elsewhere in Group F, Costa Rica scored in the last minute to complete a comeback that condemned Scotland to their third consecutive defeat. Motherwell defender Craig Reynolds had given the Scots hope with an 18th-minute strike but Pablo Herrera levelled the match in the second half, setting up a dramatic finish which was provided by Jonathan McDonald's last-gasp winner.