5 Things we learned from Spain’s dominant win over Austria
Now that’s a statement performance from one of the favourites. Spain have yet to properly get going in this tournament so far despite not conceding a goal and being unbeaten but this was a performance that will give them great confidence heading into the next round, from the start they looked dangerous and had complete control of the game but just couldn’t find that opening goal with Austria’s goalkeeper Schlager keeping them at bay. That was until the 36th minute when Cucurella played a low cross into the box for Oyarzabal finished well to put Spain in front, even when Austria went behind they just couldn’t get a hold of the ball to even try and attempt a comeback and midway through the second half they conceded a second. Alex Baena picked up the ball on the left and found Pedro Porro with a cross who headed Spain 2-0 in front to all but kill the game, Oyarzabal grabbed his second late on after Cucurella played a brilliant ball in behind for the Real Sociedad man who slotted calmly past Schlager to get his 3rd goal of the tournament. A brilliant performance from the European champions to properly start their tournament, will it be Portugal next?
That was a proper performance from the Spanish. We’ve seen France, Argentina, England, Brazil all have good performances so far at this World Cup but we were yet to see this Spain side at full strength, well that changed today as Spain absolutely dominated Austria today all over the pitch. It was so dominant I probably could have played in goal for Spain as Unai Simon didn’t even have a save to make, for me the best part of this Spain team today was in the midfield with Rodri and Pedri putting in masterclasses up against an Austrian midfield that couldn’t get near them. Defensively Spain have been the best team in the tournament so far and are still yet to concede a goal, they didn’t even concede a shot on target today which shows how good they were defensively. Going forward Spain definitely looked better today as Yamal nears full fitness and was toying with Konrad Laimer at times out there, Oyarzabal took pelters from everyone including me after the Cape Verde match but his record for Spain speaks for itself and he added another two today. Overall it was an excellent performance from Spain today who now look like a team that could win this tournament, you wouldn’t bet against them.
Lack of X-factor cost Austria this tournament. Overall I’ve been quite disappointed with Austria in this tournament, we all knew how they were going to play with Ralf Ragnick’s gegenpressing system but it just didn’t come together for whatever reason. I just don’t think Ragnick had the tools at his disposal to make Austria a threat like we’ve seen in tournaments in the past, it might sound harsh but I honestly think Austria have one of the worst attacks in the entire World Cup and we’ve seen it on multiple occasions against Argentina and now Spain. Obviously it was always going to be an uphill task against two of the best teams in the world but they got nowhere near them which would worry me if I was Ragnick, the lack of firepower in the starting 11 and squad in general led to Austria being toothless the whole tournament and ultimately cost them any chance against Spain today. The Round of 32 is about par for this Austria team I think, am I being harsh?
Can Spain continue to rely on Yamal? I think it goes without saying that even though he didn’t score or assist today Lamine Yamal was still Spain’s most dangerous player but it does feel like he’s still not fully match-fit, without him Spain might as well head home so it’s important that De La Fuente utilises him properly if he is playing through injury. Nico Williams suffered an injury setback last week so I don’t think we’ll be seeing him this tournament but I actually thought Alex Baena played quite well on that left-wing today so I’d imagine De La Fuente will sticking with him on the left, can Yamal carry Spain to another major tournament? It would be some achievement.
Who will Spain be playing in the next round? Up next for Spain in the Round of 16 will be either Portugal or Croatia who play later on tonight, Portugal go into that game as favourites but after the Colombia game on Saturday I’m not so sure. Croatia haven’t looked great so far either so you’d fancy Spain to beat whoever does go through, we have seen Spain vs Portugal last year in the Nations League final where Portugal came through on penalties in a dramatic game, after that performance tonight from Spain I’d definitely fancy them over this Portugal team that just haven’t clicked so far at this World Cup. Who would you fancy if it is to be Spain vs Portugal in the Round of 16?