Spain perturbed over defensive mistakes
Print Edition
Spain needs to get its defense together if it wants to stay in contention at the World Cup.
Players and coach Fernando Hierro know La Roja won鈥檛 go much further if it keeps repeating the defensive mistakes it made in the group stage.
鈥淭his is not the right path for us. It will be impossible if we keep conceding so much,鈥 Hierro said. 鈥淲e need to improve. Every occasion against us is dangerous. If we want to go far in the World Cup, we have to make some adjustments. We have to recognize that this is not working. We have to be self-critical and recognize that we can鈥檛 concede like this. We suffered too much.鈥
One of the favorites, Spain hasn鈥檛 impressed so far and just made it through to the last 16 after a 2-2 draw against Morocco on Monday in Kaliningrad.
Solid defense had been one of the team鈥檚 hallmarks, but it has conceded five goals in its first three matches in Russia.
鈥淏eginning now it鈥檚 鈥榳in or go home,鈥 and we can鈥檛 keep giving away goals like that,鈥 midfielder Francisco 鈥淚sco鈥 Alarcon said. 鈥淲e need to get more focused. We are not being able to do what we do best, which is to control the match.鈥
The first goal conceded by Spain on Monday came after a mix-up between captain Sergio Ramos and veteran Andres Iniesta while they exchanged passes near midfield. Neither committed to the ball, and Morocco forward Khalid Boutaib ran with it to score the opener. The second goal was a header by Youssef En-Nesyri, who was not well-marked after a cross into the Spanish area.
Spain鈥檚 equalizer came with substitute Iago Aspas in stoppage time on a play that had to be confirmed by video review after the linesman raised the flag for offside. La Roja had already benefited from FIFA鈥檚 video assistant referee in its previous game, when Iran鈥檚 potential equalizer didn鈥檛 count after a review. Spain ended up winning 1-0. Its first match was a 3-3 draw against Portugal in which Cristiano Ronaldo had a hat trick.
Spain still won Group B thanks to Portugal鈥檚 1-1 draw against Iran in a match that also was influenced by VAR. Spain and Portugal finished with five points each, but La Roja had the tiebreaker advantage because it scored more goals, six to five.
Spain, which exited early at the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 European Championship, will face host Russia next.
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