POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa, (Reuters) – Carles  Puyol’s match-winning header against Germany in Wednesday’s  World Cup semi-final was the fruit of a move worked out on the  training ground at Barcelona, the defender said yesterday.

Puyol soared above the German defence in the 73rd minute to  meet a corner from Barca team mate Xavi and powered the ball  into the net to send the European champions through to their  first final, where they will face Netherlands on Sunday.

“It’s a move that we do at Barcelona,” the shaggy-haired  centre back was quoted as saying in As sports daily  (www.as.com), adding that the goal was similar to one he scored  against Real Madrid in a 6-2 victory for Barca at the Bernabeu  during the 2008/09 season.

“We mentioned it to (coach Vicente) del Bosque a couple of  days before the match when he told us that they (the Germans)  were playing a zonal marking system and I said it might work out  well,” the 32-year-old said.

At a packed news conference at Spain’s training base in  Potchefstroom later yesterday, he added: “I told Xavi at  halftime to put it around that area and he did it very well and  it all went off perfectly.”

Del Bosque said in a internet chat on the website of daily  El Pais (www.elpais.com) the Spanish players had been practising  both short corners and balls into the penalty area like the one  that Puyol converted.

“It’s true that at Barcelona they do that when their  opponents are defending in zones,” he said. “We had discussed it  with Carles.”

It was Puyol’s third goal for Spain in his 89th appearance  and he told yesterday’s news conference it was important to make  the most of the moment, especially for players who rarely got  their names on the scoresheet.

“I don’t think I’ll go down in history for that one,” he  said. “I know very well what my status is. I hope there will be  a goal just as important on Sunday.”

The match against the Germans, who had thumped England and  Argentina 4-1 and 4-0 respectively in their previous two matches  in South Africa, had been Spain’s best performance of the  tournament, Puyol said.

“We were solid at the back and we have a great forward line  but maybe we were lacking that second goal to settle us down a  bit and stop us suffering right until the end.”