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U20: Spain, Venezuela win; Paraguay holds Italy
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September 26, 2009 - 12:00 a.m. EST

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Spain's Aaron Niguez, center, scores his second goal as Tahiti's Teheivarii Ludivion looks on, during the Spain vs Tahiti U-20 World Cup group B soccer match at the Al-Salam stadium in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Spain's Aaron Niguez, center, scores his second goal as Tahiti's Teheivarii Ludivion looks on, during the Spain vs Tahiti U-20 World Cup group B soccer match at the Al-Salam stadium in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

CAIRO (AP) — Spain hammered Tahiti 8-0 and Venezuela won its tournament debut by beating Nigeria 1-0 at the Under-20 World Cup on Friday.

The rampant Spaniards achieved their biggest ever U20 win, and were 4-0 up at halftime after Aaron Niguez and Emilio Nsue grabbed two each.

Substitute Kike added another two in the second half, and was joined by Ander Herrera and midfielder Fran Merida to seal the Group B rout.

Brazil holds the tournament record, beating Belgium 10-0 in 1997.

Before coming to Egypt, Venezuela had never qualified for any of FIFA's world championships.

Yonathan Del Valle struck in the 45th minute of the South Americans' Group B opener, shortly after Nigeria was reduced to 10 men. Lukman Haruna was sent off for stamping on a Venezuelan player's leg.

"We've given Venezuela it's first victory," Del Valle said. "(Everyone) thought we were going to lose. That was a big mistake."

Nigeria coach Samson Siaisa made no secret of his disappointment.

"Who can be pleased with defenders who can't even defend?" Siaisa said. "I told them in the dressing room, 'What is going on? ... How come you keep leaving strikers wide open?'"

In Group A, Italy goalkeeper Vincenzo Fiorillo spared his team an opening defeat, holding off Paraguay 0-0.

Italy's Andrea Mazzarani struck the post with a free kick in the ninth minute, but the Paraguayans controlled the rest of the game, forcing Fiorillo to make impressive saves.

"I'm happy with the performance but not the result ... we had 4-5 chances to score, so I'm a little upset," Paraguay coach Adrian Coria said.

"The main goal was to stand up to Italy, and we did that really well. We had an outstanding day in midfield."

Paraguay beat Brazil and helped eliminate six-time tournament winner Argentina in qualifying for Egypt.

Host Egypt trounced Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 on Thursday to lead Group A with three points, while Italy and Paraguay have a point each.

Venezuela shares the lead with Spain in Group B with three points each.

___

AP Sports writers Jerome Pugmire and Ricardo Zuniga contributed to this report.

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