 During the World Cup qualification process , Pablo established himself alongside Puyol as first choice for Spain . Despite his own goal in the last warmup game , against Croatia , he and Puyol played in the first two group games at the finals , two victories which ensured qualification for the quarter @-@ finals , and were rested for the third , against Saudi Arabia . Against France in the last eight , Spain took the lead via David Villa 's penalty after Pablo was the victim of Lilian Thuram 's " clumsy challenge from behind " . France equalised in the first half , then took the lead with only a few minutes left ; with Spain pushing for an equaliser , Zinedine Zidane scored a stoppage @-@ time third . It was the first time that Pablo had played in a losing Spain eleven . 
