Spain finds Silva lining in Alicante

David Silva led Spain to a comfortable victory over Scotland on Tuesday evening in what was a moment of vindication for the Canarian forward after remarks he made recently that he felt underused and undervalued in the national side. Silva opened the scoring after just six minutes and added another before the interval. David Villa bagged the third; a landmark 50th goal for Spain.

After the match, when reminded that he had described himself as a "supporting actor" for Spain, Silva kept his words to a minimum: "I have always concentrated on playing. People talk a lot but I'm calm and very happy. We have finished the qualification stage very well. These were two difficult games. I'm very content, as much in the national team as in my club. I hope to carry on in this way."

Spain's 3-1 victory in Alicante marked a fresh record for Vicente del Bosque's side, to add to its 35 consecutive matches unbeaten - a benchmark shared with Brazil - and its 15-match winning streak between 2008 and 2009; 14 consecutive victories in official competition, including the eight matches played during this qualifying campaign.

In evaluating the current squad, Del Bosque pointed out that it is impossible to give all his players the time on the field they would like as Spain has such a raft of talent at its disposal. "We know it is difficult to play them all, but for every match we try to find the best formula. Against Scotland we looked for a solution against two big defenders and we played a little guy \[Silva\]. Also, with Villa and Pedro as well, we have sought the participation of all of our players in these two games. We have a lot of options but the seasons are very long. Let's hope they all reach the European Championships in good shape."

With a midfield as skilled as Spain possesses, the movement of the ball is almost ethereal and opponents find themselves chasing shadows. "The system is good," said Barça defender Gerard Piqué. "These are players that move the ball quickly and have a lot of goals in them."

The depth of Spain's squad is evident in the number of debutants Del Bosque has utilized since he took over the national side in 2008. The latest of these, Jordi Alba, was the 21st player brought into the side under the Salamancan coach and potentially answers a conundrum - Spain's sole problem area, the left side of defense. Joan Capdevila, a European Championship and World Cup-winner, has fallen off the radar since his move to Benfica, where he rarely gets a game and was not even included on the list of players to take part in the Champions League.

"Other teams are in the playoffs," noted Santi Cazorla. "But because of our trajectory, the way we are playing, we are the favorite to win the European Championship again but we have to show that on the field."

One team that will face the lottery of the playoffs is Portugal, which was beaten 2-1 in Denmark. The result sent the Danes to the top of Group H and into the finals as the two teams were level on points going into the game.

Michael Krohn-Dehli and Nicklas Bendtner netted for the host and although Cristiano Ronaldo pulled one back for Portugal it was too late in the game for his side to push for the equalizer that would have sent Paulo Bento's team through to Poland and Ukraine.

The playoffs draw is set to take place on Thursday at 1pm, when Portugal will learn the identity of its opponent. As one of the seeded teams, along with the Republic of Ireland, the Czech Republic and Croatia, Portugal will have a slight advantage. The unseeded teams are Turkey, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Estonia.