Spain, Paraguay make quarterfinals

David Villa called it one of his best goals.

He was talking about the timing, but the effort was pretty nice, too.

On a night when Portugal's defense fought off attack after attack, the Spanish striker finally broke through in the 63rd minute, giving the European champs a 1-0 victory Tuesday and a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals.

Villa took Xavi Hernandez's heel pass and struck a left-footed shot that was saved by Portuguese goalkeeper Eduardo.

He then fired the rebound with his right foot off the underside of the crossbar and into the net - his fourth goal of the tournament - sprinted to the near corner and slid on his knees to the flag, letting out a mighty yell.

"It was one of my best goals because it got us through to the next round," Villa said. "Keep scoring so we can keep going."

Spain plays Paraguay in the quarterfinals Saturday.

While Villa is tied for the lead in scoring at the World Cup, it was a disappointing tournament for Cristiano Ronaldo, the world's most expensive player. His only goal came late in Portugal's 7-0 rout of North Korea in group play, and he had a quiet night against Spain.

His best attempt Tuesday at Cape Town, South Africa, came from a free kick in the 28th minute when he launched the ball from 35 yards with such a dipping swerve that all Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas could do was block it with his body and see the ball bounce free.

Otherwise, Portugal could rely little on its captain. As he was pointing left and right where his teammates should go, he often walked.

This was 33rd time the Iberian neighbors have met in soccer, but the first time in the World Cup. Spain has won 16 of the matches to Portugal's five.

Portugal went out of the tournament after conceding its first goal in four games.

"To lose by 1 goal in a championship hurts very badly," Eduardo said.

Paraguay d. Japan: The last thing Paraguay wanted was to wind up in a shootout with Japan. After all, the South Americans seldom practice penalty kicks - or have any success when they do.

Yet Paraguay took the most difficult route to its first World Cup quarterfinals. After 120 exhausting minutes without scoring in the match at Pretoria, South Africa, the Paraguayans found their touch in penalty kicks, making all 5 to beat Japan.

Oscar Cardozo clinched the 5-3 shootout win after a 0-0 draw with a low left-footed drive past goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima. The only miss in the shootout was by Japan defender Yuichi Komano on the third try when he hit the crossbar. That made the difference.

"We practiced penalty kicks once, so nobody could say we weren't prepared," coach Gerardo Martino said. "But our executions weren't too good.

"You can't recreate the environment you'll face in a real game, with 40,000 fans."

But the execution was perfect, climaxed by Cardozo's winner.

"Character plays a big role," Martino said. "What can you say when a Cardozo asks to kick the fifth penalty and he does it the way he did it?"