After their 5-0 victory over New Zealand in the first group game of the Confederations Cup being held in South Africa, Spain confirmed their status as tournament favourites.

With a hat-trick from Fernando Torres in the first 17 minutes plus goals from Cesc Fábregas just before and David Villa just after the half time break, Spain never troubled by the 'All Whites', despite their physical strength, and sent a clear message to their main rivals in the 'Cup' - Brazil and Italy.

Fernando Torres said he was 'confident that Spain could repeat their success in Euro 2008', but added that it was important 'to carry on playing as well as we have started'.  He told the press that as strikers, he and David Villa were fortunate to be backed up by 'such a wealth of talent.'

Italy also won their opening game against the USA, but only after going down 1-0 in the first half.  Brazil were also given a shock by the Egyptian team, who came back from 3-1 down to level the game at 3-3, before a 90th minute penalty from Kaka allowed the Brazilians to save face.

Spain's next opponents will be Iraq, on Wednesday, with the final group game, against the hosts, South Africa, being played on Saturday.