It wasn't pretty in Kaiserslautern on Friday, but in the end, Spain had just enough firepower to shoot past Saudi Arabia 1-0. Juanito headed home a Jose Antonio Reyes cross in the 37th minute and the Saudis had difficulty mounting pressure on the Spanish goal.

The win secured Group H victory for Spain and sets up a Tuesday showdown against the G runner-up -- their opponent will be determined later on Friday evening. Saudi Arabia managed only one point in its fourth consecutive World Cup appearance off a draw against Tunisia in the side's opening match.

Having already qualified prior to the game, Spain rested a number of starters and seven of their players had never seen World Cup action before. And many of them played well. It was only the excellent play of Saudi keeper Mabrouk Zayed -- who saved tough shots by Joaquin, Raul, David Albelda and Cesc Fabregas in the first half hour alone -- that kept the score respectable.

Juanito managed to spring free of his marker at just the right moment to connect with Reyes's beautiful, curling freekick to head one past Zayed, who never had a chance. And the goal appeared to energize the Spanish team. Aside from a weak shot by Saudi legend Sami Al-Jaber, his team rarely threatened in the first half.

Spain almost scored again early in the second half when Villa dropped a pass off to fullback Antonio Lopez whose shot angling toward the far post was just tipped wide by Zayed. But following that scare, the Saudis were quickly able to turn the match.

In the 57th minute Spanish keeper Santiago Canizares, who was playing for Iker Casillas, was tested by a shot from distance by Hussein Abdul-Ghani. More pressure on the Spanish goal resulted in jeers by the largely Spanish crowd. And just before time, Spain was almost forced to share the points by striker Saad al-Harthi's shot from in close just sailed over the crossbar.

Spain is hoping the victory will erase decades of mediocrity on the international stage. It hasn't gone further than the quarter-finals in any World Cup since 1950 when it came in fourth. The Spanish could face 1998 champion France or 2002 semi-finalist South Korea in their second round match next week.