Wasteful Torres raps World Cup ball

Coach Vicente del Bosque included Torres, who recently completed recovery from knee surgery, in his starting lineup for the Group H clash at Ellis Park and if he had shown his usual lethal touch the dominant European champions could easily have matched Portugal's earlier 7-0 thrashing of North Korea.

"Personally speaking, I am very happy to have played but we need to practice a bit more with this Jabulani because we are having a bit of bother with it," Torres told reporters.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1