Spain continued their seemingly unstoppable march towards next year's World Cup

finals after thrashing Belgium in La Coruna to record their seventh win out of

seven in Group Five.

Although Spain are still not yet assured of a place in South Africa after

second-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Armenia 2-0 earlier in the evening, it

seems only a matter of time before the European champions seal their spot as

they are six points clear with three games to go.

Valencia duo David Villa and David Silva both netted braces in the win, while

Gerard Pique added the other. Villa also missed a first-half penalty when the

game was goaless.

Spain dominated from the start and the only surprise was that it took them

until five minutes before half-time to make the first breakthrough.

With strike duo Fernando Torres and Villa causing Belgium's defence all sorts

of problems, Spain could have had the match sewn up inside the opening 35

minutes but a mixture of bad luck, poor finishing and good goalkeeping denied

them.

Villa twice went close in the opening 11 minutes, shooting wide and then seeing

what seemed a certain goal stopped by the foot of Belgium goalkeeper Jean

Francois Gillet.

Torres then took centre stage, smashing a shot against the underside of the

crossbar - although it would not have counted due to an infringement - before

sending a good chance just wide following a brilliant pass by Xavi.

Spain were then handed a great chance to take the lead in the 22nd minute when

Villa was sent crashing in the area by Anthony Vanden Borre after skipping past

the Belgium number two.

However, the in-form hitman could not make the most of his good work as he

missed the subsequent spot-kick, firing down the middle only to see the diving

Gillet deflect the ball away with his foot.

Vicente del Bosque's side must have felt it was not going to be their day when

they struck the woodwork for a second time in the 35th minute, Villa deflecting

Torres' shot onto the near post, but the home side's dominance finally paid

dividends five minutes before the break.

This time Villa turned provider, with his clever pass picking out Valencia

club-mate Silva inside the area and the diminutive midfielder made no mistake

with his left-footed finish.

That half-time lead was no more than Spain deserved, but it should have been a

far more comfortable advantage.

That was not something the European champions needed to be worried about for

long though, as they scored twice in the opening five minutes of the second half

to put the game to bed.

After Torres had headed a clear chance well wide, Villa doubled Spain's lead in

the 49th minute when fired home an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area.

Villa, whose goal was his 32nd for his country, was also involved in his side's

third goal, picking out Pique unmarked near the penalty spot, and the big

Barcelona centre-back showed good composure to control the pass before coolly

slotting past Gillet.

That settled the outcome of the game, but Spain were not finished yet and Silva

made it 4-0 in the 67th minute when he fired home from 25 yards out.

Outclassed Belgium, who now have no hope of automatic qualification out of

Group Five, must have been hoping for the full-time whistle at that stage, but

they almost pulled a goal back with 16 minutes to go when Iker Casillas did well

to tip over Kevin Mirallas' shot.

However, it was Spain who looked the more likely scorers in the closing stages

and Cesc Fabregas brought a good diving save out of Gillet before the Arsenal

man laid his side's fifth goal on a plate for Villa to complete a hugely

impressive win.