The group stage is something you have to do but the World Cup starts here, Lamine Yamal had insisted, and down on the Pacific that was how it played out. It wasn’t just that Spain defeated Austria to reach the last 16 against Portugal or Croatia, their first victory at the knockout stage since they were champions in 2010; it was that on an enjoyable sunny afternoon they were Spain again.
Two goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and another from Pedro Porro completed a 3-0 win that was as recognisably theirs as their coach had requested beforehand. “Almost perfect,” Luis de la Fuente called it afterwards.
For the fourth consecutive game Spain kept a clean sheet, Unai Simón breaking Iker Casillas’s 2010 title-winning record while Pau Cubarsí and Aymeric Laporte confirmed their status as the centre-back partnership of the tournament so far, but what really stood out was what was happening either side and in front of them.
The full-backs Marc Cucurella and Porro were flying. A little flat until now, everyone in red was. So was the ball – 64% of possession and 10 shots on target, 23 overall, told a story that felt a little like redemption after the doubts so far. “Big teams turn up when they’re needed,” De la Fuente said.
His team were intense, incisive, and ultimately dominant. Fun too, an impressive victory wrapped up on 89 minutes with a third goal that looked remarkably like the first and a lot like Spain. “We were in it until the 2-0, but our opponents are special and it’s hard over 90 minutes,” Ralf Rangnick, the Austria head coach, said.
It was enjoyable from the earliest moments, a battle already building: Konrad Laimer versus Lamine Yamal started with the Austrian attacking and the Spaniard attacking back, the teenager’s shot after 59 seconds coming on the counter and feeling like a statement. De la Fuente had warned that Austria would press high but he knew that suited his team. Spain liked having the space to play, moving the ball faster, stretching the pitch. With Lamine Yamal and Laimer going at it – a nutmeg here, a race there – chances came. Mostly for Spain. Dani Olmo’s first, on the volley, was accidentally blocked by Oyarzabal and Laporte headed over. Although the best opportunity in the opening quarter came at the other end when Laimer stepped up again, always willing to look forward despite the threat that often forced him back. Marcel Sabitzer’s lovely inswinging cross dropped behind Cubarsí and only just escaped Michael Gregoritsch.
Courtesy: The Guardian
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
