Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho hailed one of his half-time substitutes for inspiring his team's comeback against Paraguay.
But he singled out defensive midfielder Ivan Helguera rather than double goalscorer Fernando Morientes as the hero of the hour.
"We were losing 1-0 at half-time and it could have been 2-0 so I had to do something to change the situation," Camacho said.
"I brought on Helguera to play in front of the defence and that provided us with the solution."
Fellow substitute Morientes scored twice in the second half to put Spain in front before Fernando Hierro sealed their passage into the last 16 with a late penalty.
And Camacho was delighted to have qualified with a match to spare.
"We have had two 3-1 victories so you can see we are worth our place in the second round," he said.
"We can now rest players and prepare for the next phase in more comfort.
"We won our first game at the World Cup for the first time in
52 years and now we are the first team into the second round.
"I think everyone has to be pleased with that.
"We started off slowly, but then we played very well, and
against Paraguay that is not easy," he added.
Spain's Puyol (right) scored an own goal
Morientes' goals completed his comeback from a summer of misery two years ago when he was left out of Camacho's Euro 2000 squad.
Now the Real Madrid forward hopes the recreation of his successful club partnership with Raul will secure his place in the side.
Morientes said: "We have played extraordinary games and did a great job today.
"We have that winning feeling now and the manager has a difficult task to choose from our very good forwards for the next match.
"But whatever he decides, I'm sure the coach won't make a mistake.
"We'll go into the last game with the same motivation to
win, but it's good to know we've already qualified for the