Villa, fresh from his hat-trick in the 4-1 midweek triumph over Russia, netted his side's winner deep into injury time to help Spain move within touching distance of a quarter-final spot with two victories from two.

There appeared little danger as Spain left-back Joan Capdevila pumped a long ball down the wing, but Villa showed tremendous anticipation, speed and skill to pick up possession, cut inside marker Petter Hansson before coolly slotting past Andreas Isaksson for the clincher.

That goal saw Villa win his second man-of-the-match award for the tournament, helped Spain extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches, and also left a huge impression on Aragones.

"We were fortunate to have Villa, who scored a goal which was almost impossible to score," Aragones said.

"If you look at it from the outside you wonder just how he managed to score it."

Spain took the lead through Fernando Torres in the 15th minute but Zlatan Ibrahimovic levelled things up in the 34th minute with a goal that looked set to earn Sweden a share of the points.

However, Villa had the final word with his late strike to give Spain a three-point haul that Aragones felt they deserved in the end.

"Spain managed to get the upper hand, I think we were better," he said.

"I think in the second half they were very tired from the first. I think we were masters of the game."

Villa added: "To tell you the truth I am prouder of this goal than the three I scored the other day, I'm so happy. It's good for me to be able to be there for Spain and help win us the three points. Let's hope that things carry on like this."

Aragones also had praise for Sweden, who suffered their first loss of the tournament having beaten Greece 2-0 in their opener.

"I respect Sweden, they play long balls but they play them well," said the veteran Spain coach.

"Sweden made it physical, and worked very hard in the first half. After that we had more of the ball. It was difficult to score against them because they had five players in defence.

"We had control of the ball, we did not have many chances because they defended very well. We had a few chances that we could have scored from though, and I think we deserved the win."

Sweden suffered a setback at half-time when Ibrahimovic, who had been an injury doubt leading up to the game due to a knee problem, failed to re-appear for the second half, with Markus Rosenberg taking his place.

Regarding that change, Aragones said: "Rosenberg is an important player, a very quick player, but Zlatan is a player who can do anything. He is a great player for any team, in particular for Sweden."

Sweden coach Lars Lagerback spoke of his "bitter" disappointment at seeing his side lose right at the death following a battling performance against one of the tournament favourites.

"Obviously this is a bitter way to lose a match, in the very final seconds," he said.

"With all due respect to Spain I think we played an extremely good first half, we created more in terms of chances than Spain in the first half.

"They did have greater possession of the ball however, and they've created a number of very good opportunities and I would like to congratulate the Spanish team. As I've said all along, in terms of passing, I think they are the best national team in the world today.

"They are an extremely good team, so I would really like to pay tribute to our guys even though this loss is particularly bitter coming so late."

ends