It바카라s not how Spain imagined reaching the knockout phase of the World Cup: finishing the group stage with a loss and having to rely on other teams to help it advance. (More Football News)
Spain survived but heads into the round of 16 against Morocco with bruised confidence after losing 2-1 to Japan.
바카라We have to recover emotionally,바카라 Spain coach Luis Enrique said after the match Thursday. 바카라We will be playing against one of the surprise teams of the World Cup and we will have to be fully prepared. There are only 16 teams left in the tournament and you have to play better. It바카라s going to be very difficult.바카라
Few expected Spain would have such a hard time getting through the group stage in Qatar after opening with a 7-0 thrashing of Costa Rica. It had also played well against Germany despite conceding a late equalizer, and a draw against Japan in the final group game would have been enough to send Spain through to the round of 16.
But after going into what Luis Enrique called 바카라collapse mode바카라 in a five-minute span after halftime, Spain was in danger of an embarrassing early exit, which it avoided thanks to Germany바카라s 4-2 win over Costa Rica in the other Group E match.
Players were anxious on the bench knowing that if Costa Rica won the other match, Spain would be eliminated. Luis Enrique said he would 바카라have had a heart attack바카라 had he known that at one point Costa Rica took the lead over Germany, temporarily pushing Spain out of second place in the group.
It was a big scare, and now La Roja is going into recovery mode ahead of its match against Morocco on Tuesday.
바카라We have to analyze what happened and fix what we didn바카라t do well,바카라 Luis Enrique said. 바카라I need to try to get the players cheered up again.바카라
Spain is trying to win its first major title since the 2012 European Championship. It won its lone World Cup trophy in 2010 in South Africa.
By finishing second in its group, Spain avoided 2018 runner-ups Croatia in the round of 16, and possibly world champion Brazil in quarterfinals and Lionel Messi바카라s Argentina in the semifinals. On its side of the bracket now, Spain has teams like England and defending champion France, which it could meet in the semis.
바카라It doesn바카라t matter, the opponents keep changing,바카라 Luis Enrique said. 바카라We wanted to finish with a win and in first place. There바카라s nothing to celebrate.바카라
The coach made five changes to his lineup from the 1-1 draw against Germany, bringing in Alejandro Balde, Pau Torres, Nico Williams, CĂ©sar Azpilicueta and Ălvaro Morata, who scored in the first half for his third goal in as many matches in Qatar.
Azpilicueta, who was substituted at halftime with a knock on his leg, made the cross for Morata바카라s goal. Balde was to blame for Japan바카라s equalizer after losing possession near the penalty area.
바카라I considered that these 11 were the best ones for this match, I have trust in all of my players,바카라 Luis Enrique said. 바카라But looking at how things turned out afterward, maybe I wouldn바카라t have picked the same 11. But it바카라s easy to say it now.바카라
