RUSTENBURG, South Africa Liverpool's Fernando Torres says he has nothing more to prove after scoring the fastest hat-trick of his career in Spain's 5-0 rout of New Zealand in the Confederations Cup.
The star striker bagged three goals in the opening 17 minutes as Spain extended their unbeaten run to 33 games, AFP reports.
Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas and Valencia's David Villa also got on the scoresheet in a match that looked headed for a double digit result before New Zealand woke up.
'I've never got a hat-trick so quickly and it was nice to achieve that with the national team,' said Torres, who has now scored 22 goals for Spain.
'I owe it to my colleagues. I score but I benefit from the work done behind me.
'I don't think I have anything to prove. Let me tell you I don't believe any players in this team have anything to prove. We are all playing at a top level.'The Group A victory, Spain's 13th consecutive win, extended their unbeaten run as they look to overturn Brazil's world record 35-matches without defeat between 1993 and 1996.
Yet despite them being the world's number one ranked team and packed with star names, the Royal Bafokeng Stadium here was half empty, something that will worry FIFA with the World Cup in South Africa less than a year away.
Spain opened their account after six minutes when Fabregas slotted the ball to Torres on the edge of the box and he cooly curled his shot into the top right hand corner.
It was 2-0 eight minutes later after Villa cut the ball back for Torres who side-footed it past flailing goalkeeper Glen Moss.
The Liverpool striker collected his hat-trick on 17 minutes when Villarreal's Joan Capdevila crossed from the left and he outjumped the defence to powerfully head home.
It was his second hat-trick for his country—the other coming against San Marino in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.
New Zealand's confidence was shattered as their defence, missing injured Blackburn star Ryan Nelson, was run ragged.
With Spain keeping possession and pressing forward, Fabregas got their fourth on 24 minutes with a simple tap-in after Capdevila squared the ball into his path.
The only other time the two teams have met was at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1997 when Spain won 13-0 and All Whites coach Ricki Herbert looked a worried man in the dugout with another double figure demolition appearing possible.
He took off striker Jeremy Brockie, replacing him with Jeremy Christie to shore up the defence, and the tactic worked with the score remaining the same at the half-time whistle.
But it didn't stay that way for long with Villa scoring the fifth just three minutes after the restart following a comical miskick from defender Andy Boyens gifted him the ball and the Valencia striker made no mistake.
It was his 29th goal to put him alongside Hierro and behind only Raul as Spain's leading scorer of all time.
Torres was substituted with 20 minutes left as Spain took their foot off the gas, conscious that they have another game on Tuesday.
With hosts South Africa drawing 0-0 with Iraq, Spain top Group A with three points.
They next meet Iraq in Bloemfontein while New Zealand look to salvage some pride against South Africa on the same day in Rustenburg.
The top two from the group qualify for the semi-finals.
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