World Cup 2006 - Qualifying match

Spain 1 - Lithuania 0

A second half strike from Luque was enough to give Spain a narrow victory over a battling Lithuania in Valencia's Mestalla stadium. With a full strength line up, Luis Aragonés's side were favourites to win on paper. But as was the case with the under 21 team the day before, their opponents' defence proved hard to break down. A promising start soon petered out, and only a couple of efforts from Fernando Torres caused any problems for the visiting keeper before the break. The coach turned to Luque and Luis García around the hour mark, and shortly after Xavi hit the bar with a free kick, Luque picked up a pass from Raúl to fire a low shot wide of the keeper. Lithuania fought back though, and Casillas had to pull off a finger tip save from a Poskus free kick in the last minute to ensure the three points which takes his side level with Serbia at the top of the table. (04.06.05)