Villa leaps to Torres’ defence

David Villa has leapt to the defence of his under-fire strike partner Fernando Torres. Torres has struggled at the World Cup and is yet to find the net, while Villa has been in scintillating form banging in four goals as Spain have surged into the quarterfinals. But Villa, who is the joint top scorer in South Africa, insists injury is hampering his strike partner. "We know what state his knee was in a month ago and I don't agree with those who say his performances have been below par,” the Barcelona star said of Torres. "The only blame you can pin on him in the opening stages is that he hasn't scored. His desire to be with the team has been spectacular." Torres was replaced with Athletic Bilbao hitman Fernando Llorente in Wednesday’s win over Portugal, with Villa grabbing the vital goal minutes after he took the field.