Spain exploded with delight when the final whistle sounded on Saturday's 1-0 World Cup quarter-final defeat of Paraguay.The entire country celebrated the fact that La Roja had finally reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, for the first time ever.Spain finished fourth in Brazil in 1950 but in that year there were no semi-finals but rather a final group of four teams. They have lost in the quarter-finals four times, usually in controversial circumstances."We have finally overcome the curse of the quarter-finals," was one of the comments on Madrid radio station Cadena COPE.Almost 20 million Spaniards, almost half the population, saw at least some part of the tense Paraguay clash on television, many of them at massive outdoor World Cup parties.The long-awaited goal - put away by World Cup top scorer David Villa just seven minutes from time - was greeted euphorically across Spain, with thousands of people shouting from balconies.The final whistle in Johannesburg provoked a orgy of fire- crackers, trumpet blasts and car horns. The party would go on will into the night.Ramon, one of the many fans at the World Cup party outside Real Madrid's Estadio Bernabeu, told television channel Tele 5 that "the team really made us suffer tonight, but it was worth it in the end. Now for the Germans."Spain will face Germany - whom they beat 1-0 in the Euro 2008 final - in the semi-finals.Esteban, Ramon's friend, looking rather worse for drink, said that "what is different this time is that we finally have a team which knows how to fight, instead of giving up when things are difficult."Guillermo, a fan at one of the outdoor parties in Sevilla, said that "we didn't really play well tonight, but sometimes you have to win without playing well
. It was the kind of game that we used to lose."His girlfriend Maria Angeles, for her part, commented that Spain's best players were Casillas, "because of his penalty save," and goalscorer Villa.She added that "it is always Villa that pulls the chestnuts out of the fire for us," using a traditional Spanish proverb. "If it were not for him then I really don't think we would have got so far."Villa has scored five of Spain's six goals in South Africa. His latest was celebrated with special enthusiasm in Asturias, the northern regional from whence he hails.The euphoria of the Spaniards on Saturday contrasted with the disappointment of the country's sizeable Paraguayan community.There are a handful of Paraguayan restaurants in Madrid and each one of them organized a World Cup party.At one of the restaurants Alfonso, a Paraguayan waiter who has lived in Spain for 12 years, said that "our boys did the best they could. They battled for every ball. We really could not ask more of them."Jose Antonio, a Paraguayan at the same Madrid restaurant, said that if (Oscar) Cardozo had put away his penalty, which was brilliantly saved by Casillas, "would have been a different match altogether."
Spain exploded with delight when the final whistle sounded on Saturday's 1-0 World Cup quarter-final defeat of Paraguay.The entire country celebrated the fact that La Roja had finally reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, for the first time ever.Spain finished fourth in Brazil in 1950 but in that year there were no semi-finals but rather a final group of four teams. They have lost in the quarter-finals four times, usually in controversial circumstances."We have finally overcome the curse of the quarter-finals," was one of the comments on Madrid radio station Cadena COPE.Almost 20 million Spaniards, almost half the population, saw at least some part of the tense Paraguay clash on television, many of them at massive outdoor World Cup parties.The long-awaited goal - put away by World Cup top scorer David Villa just seven minutes from time - was greeted euphorically across Spain, with thousands of people shouting from balconies.The final whistle in Johannesburg provoked a orgy of fire- crackers, trumpet blasts and car horns. The party would go on will into the night.Ramon, one of the many fans at the World Cup party outside Real Madrid's Estadio Bernabeu, told television channel Tele 5 that "the team really made us suffer tonight, but it was worth it in the end. Now for the Germans."Spain will face Germany - whom they beat 1-0 in the Euro 2008 final - in the semi-finals.Esteban, Ramon's friend, looking rather worse for drink, said that "what is different this time is that we finally have a team which knows how to fight, instead of giving up when things are difficult."Guillermo, a fan at one of the outdoor parties in Sevilla, said that "we didn't really play well tonight, but sometimes you have to win without playing well
. It was the kind of game that we used to lose."His girlfriend Maria Angeles, for her part, commented that Spain's best players were Casillas, "because of his penalty save," and goalscorer Villa.She added that "it is always Villa that pulls the chestnuts out of the fire for us," using a traditional Spanish proverb. "If it were not for him then I really don't think we would have got so far."Villa has scored five of Spain's six goals in South Africa. His latest was celebrated with special enthusiasm in Asturias, the northern regional from whence he hails.The euphoria of the Spaniards on Saturday contrasted with the disappointment of the country's sizeable Paraguayan community.There are a handful of Paraguayan restaurants in Madrid and each one of them organized a World Cup party.At one of the restaurants Alfonso, a Paraguayan waiter who has lived in Spain for 12 years, said that "our boys did the best they could. They battled for every ball. We really could not ask more of them."Jose Antonio, a Paraguayan at the same Madrid restaurant, said that if (Oscar) Cardozo had put away his penalty, which was brilliantly saved by Casillas, "would have been a different match altogether."
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