From correspondents in Europe, 05:32 PM IST

Euro champions Spain cruised to the top of World Cup qualifying Group 5 with a comfortable 4-0 thrashing of minnows Armenia.

The pleasant win Wednesday leaves the Euro 2008 champions with six points from two games, with five goals scored and none conceded.

New manager Vicente del Bosque could hardly have dreamed of a better start on the Spain bench.

'This is a dream start for Vicente,' said former Spain striker Emilio Butragueno, commenting on the match for Television Espanola.

'He has managed to keep the same structure and style as in Austria (for Euro 2008), and the results continue to be impressive.'

The Spanish hero was again Euro top scorer David Villa, scorer of two handsome goals this time.

Left-back Joan Capdevila opened the scoring for the hosts after just eight minutes, after taking a classy pass from Andres Iniesta.

Just eight minutes later Iniesta set up Villa to make it 2-0 with one of his trademark cool finishes.

A disappointing second-half exploded into life in the 79th minute, when Villa made it 3-0 on a short pass from sub Xabi Alonso.

Villa now has the enviable record of 21 international goals in just 38 appearances.

Midfield anchorman Marcos Senna completed the rout in the 83rd minute with his first international goal, a powerful long-range drive that had the fans on their feet.

Capdevilla afterward denied that it had been an easy win. 'No game is easy at this level,' said the veteran defender.

'We had to work quite hard tonight,' he added. 'We relaxed a bit in the middle of the game, and then we had to put in more effort towards the end.'

(Staff Writer, © IANS)