Fortaleza, Brazil – Jordi Alba scored on either side of the interval as Spain topped Nigeria by a 3-0 count on Sunday to claim the top spot in Group B at the Confederations Cup.
Fernando Torres also scored for Spain as the result sees the reigning World and European champions finish a perfect 3-0 in group play and advance to the semifinals of the competition where they will face Italy next Thursday.
After scoring just five minutes into their last match against Tahiti, the Spaniards struck early on again on Sunday as Alba found the back of the net three minutes in.
The Barcelona man collected a loose ball on the left flanked and skillfully worked his way through the Nigerian defense into the penalty area before ripping a shot past goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.
Nigeria had several chances to find an equalizer, but its finishing touch was lacking all day and Spain added a second goal in the 62nd minute.
Torres came on as a substitute in the 60th minute and immediately got into the action as Pedro whipped a cross into the box from the left wing and Torres was there to nod it home for his fifth goal of the tournament.
Alba scored his second two minutes from time to put an exclamation point on an excellent performance.
Nigeria created a couple chances over the remainder of the match, but never truly threatened Victor Valdes' goal and Spain was able to see out the result.
In Sunday's other Group B match, Abel Hernandez bagged four goals as Uruguay routed Tahiti by an 8-0 score.
Hernandez collected his first two goals in the second and 24th minutes and Diego Perez made it 3-0 in the 27th minute.
Hernandez got his third in first-half stoppage time and Nicolas Lodeiro added a goal just after the hour mark to make it 5-0. Hernandez then finished his day with a penalty kick and Luis Suarez came on as a substitute to score twice and complete the rout.
Uruguay advances to the semifinals with the result and they will face Brazil next Wednesday.
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