UPDATE 1-Soccer-Late Soldado strike gives Spain win in Georgia

* Striker nets 86th-minute winner in Tbilisi

* Spain start title defence with a 1-0 victory

(Adds details, quotes)

TBILISI, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Roberto Soldado snatched a late

winner as Spain began the defence of their world title with a

laboured 1-0 victory away to an ultra-defensive Georgia in a

Group I qualifier on Tuesday.

Handed a rare start ahead of fellow strikers Fernando Torres

and David Villa, Soldado fluffed a chance in the first half but

made no mistake from close range when set up by substitute Cesc

Fabregas in the 86th minute.

It was cruel on the home side, who had held out stubbornly

against their illustrious visitors despite seeing little of the

ball and losing goalkeeper Giorgi Loria to injury with some 20

minutes from time.

They even came close to taking a shock 54th-minute lead when

Aleksander Amisulashvili's curling shot hit the post but Spain's

relentless attacking eventually wore them down.

"They closed ranks from the start and we tried everything

but we were missing a little bit of attacking dynamism," Spain

coach Vicente del Bosque told Spanish TV.

"These are three exceptionally important points because if

we had drawn today it would have been a significant setback," he

added.

Spain's victory in their first Group I game puts them level

on three points with Georgia and main rivals France, who play

their second game at home to Belarus later on Tuesday.

It also extended the Iberian nation's winning streak in

European Championship and World Cup qualifiers to 23 matches.

They last failed to win in a 1-1 draw with Iceland in Reykjavik

in September 2007.

FAMILIAR PROBLEM

The latest crop of Spanish players were confronted by a

familiar problem in Tbilisi as tried to penetrate the massed

ranks of opposition defenders while dominating possession.

David Silva crashed a long-range effort off a post in the

28th minute before Xavi also tried his luck from distance and

forced a fine save from Loria.

Silva and Andres Iniesta nearly found a way through several

times with some slick interplay but Spain had to wait until the

45th minute before they finally created a clear chance.

However, when Xavi threaded the ball through to Soldado the

onrushing Loria blocked his low shot.

After the woodwork saved Spain early in the second half, Del

Bosque went in search of a winner by throwing on Pedro, Santi

Cazorla and Fabregas who conjured a low cross that Soldado

turned clinically past substitute keeper Roin Kvaskhvadze.

"It was a very hard-fought win," Soldado told Spanish TV.

"It was very tough to find space and create chances but at

the end we managed to get the breakthrough," added the striker

who took his tally to four on his sixth appearance for Spain.