Happy to reach the last 16 of the World Cup, Spain is ready to abandon its attacking playing style if it means going even further into the tournament.
Spain's attractive passing style, characterized by the likes of Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, was mostly ditched in favor of a slower tempo, physical encounter.
Iniesta was concerned with the objective of advancing from the group rather than how it was attained.
"When it comes to the style, the way of playing, this is a World Cup and we're going to try and do the best we can, even though sometimes a rival makes it complicated for you and you have to change your way," Iniesta said after scoring the winning goal on Friday. "The most important thing will be to play a complete game against Portugal."
While Spain has continued to win under coach Vicente del Bosque, the team has also taken on a grittier approach in recent games.
"We try to mix the beautiful with the pragmatic," Del Bosque said. "Football isn't just about finding the best game, but about defending and sticking to it."
While most picked the 2008 European champions to triumph in South Africa because of its exciting play, Spain was beginning to mirror Dunga's Brazil, which have sacrificed flair for efficiency.
"We'd all love to play beautifully and score five goals a game, but that doesn't always happen," Iniesta said. "There are good moments and difficult moments. This is football, this is the World Cup and games are played at a high level so we have to be happy."
Sergio Busquets exemplifies Del Bosque's team, with the Barcelona midfielder doing the grunt work in midfield to protect the front line and help out in defense. Del Bosque said earlier this week that if he could be any player, it would be Busquets.
Spain, which usually attacks for 90 minutes, unusually dropped back after Rodrigo Millar's 47th-minute goal cut the deficit following goals by David Villa and then Iniesta.
"After Chile's goal, you could see that we were more conservative than usual," Del Bosque said. "Our idea is to take care of the ball so we can find the goal. That goal confused us," said Del Bosque, who commended his team's turnaround after it won two straight matches to top Group H after losing 1-0 to Switzerland in its opener. Spain also beat Honduras 2-0.
"From now on it's going to be emotional," Del Bosque said. "It's life or death."
