Villa's brace in the 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over Armenia took his tally to 21 goals in just 38 appearances for his country, lifting him joint level with Michel in seventh place in Spain's all-time list.

Of the players in front of him only two are still active and neither Raul, who is the leading scorer with 44 goals, nor Fernando Morientes, who is in third spot having netted 27 times, is currently in favour with Spain.

That means Villa, who is still only 26 years old, has every chance of going on to become the Iberian nation's most prolific goalscorer.

"It's not easy to get to this mark and I'm very happy about that," said Villa.

"I hope to continue improving and continue scoring many more goals for Spain. In the short term, my wish is to continue doing well for the coach, to play in the upcoming games and to enter into Spanish history."

Villa's strikes against Armenia continued a memorable few months for the Valencia forward, who this summer helped Spain win the European Championships with a tournament-high four goals.

"It's true I'm happy scoring goals. It's what we strikers live for and I hope that the good run continues," he said in AS.

"I'm going through a very happy time because everything is going well. I'm very happy at a personal level and also at a collective level.

"My wish and ambition is to continue working hard so that the national team does well and also making the fans happy."