Spain striker Fernando Torres admitted that his side were made to work hard by Tunisia before they clinched a 3-1 victory and a place in the knockout stages of the World Cup.

Torres netted twice to lead his country's fightback, but he said afterwards: "It was harder than we expected, but it is important to win any way you can.

"Today the team showed spirit and did not get downhearted when they were behind. As long as the strikers keep scoring we will progress in this tournament."

Tunisia defender Radhi Jaidi accepted that his side had finally been overrun by Spain, having made an excellent start to the game.

He added: "For most of the match we played extremely well, not allowing the Spaniards the space to develop their game.

"Unfortunately we were not able to keep our concentration for 90 minutes."