Football

World Cup 2022: Luis Enrique is not happy, but is anyone believes him?

World Cup 2022: Luis Enrique is not happy, but is anyone believes him?

Spain failed to win against Japan in their last group stage game, and thus took second place in the group, but still managed to advance to the playoff stage of the tournament.

Spain was dominating Japan in the first half with Alvaro Morata scoring a goal, but as soon as the second half started something changed. Japan scored a couple of goals and the whole game went in a different direction. The match itself had more relevance than just in what place will Spain end up. Germany’s future in the tournament was connected to Spain who needed to beat Japan, so the Germans can go through to the last 16.

Some are wondering whether everything was clear-cut when it comes to Spain losing to Japan, especially with the way they were playing in the second half. They had a massive possession advantage, but barely had any opportunities to score goals. Japan tried to push back on the counter-attack but rarely troubled its opponents.

There was a small window of time before Spain was actually out of the tournament, it happened when Costa Rica took the lead over Germany for a 2-1 advantage, but that didn’t last very long. Germany ended up winning the game 4-2. Still, as Spain lost, Germany was out of the Qatar tournament. It was the second World Cup in a row that Germany failed to pass through the group stage.

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Luis Enrique was ‘disappointed’

“I wasn’t happy with the display in the second half. We conceded two early goals and failed to regain our composure. I wanted us to win the group, and move to the last 16 as the best side. I thought Japan dismantled us in the second part of the game,” claimed Spain’s manager Luis Enrique who defended the way his team tried to equalize.

“I don’t think I missed anything, we tried everything we could. Our attacking players were all over the place, defending, as well as creating chances for themselves, and their teammates. We tried everything, but sometimes in football things like this happen, and are out of your hands.”

When we look at the stats, it is clear how Spain had a huge 82 percent ball possession advantage and had 14 goal attempts in the match, but only six toward Japan’s goalkeeper. Many of those attempts came to fruition in the first half. Japan didn’t have a single corner kick the entire game, and there are still plenty of people who are wondering how on earth did they manage to turn the game around.

Enrique also claimed that he didn’t follow what was going on in the other match of the group.

“I think my heart would have burst if I had found out that Costa Rica was leading against Germany.”

Nevertheless, some believe that Spain did a true ‘masterclass’ of how they managed to put Germany out of the tournament, avoided Croatia in the last 16, and had a potential clash with Brazil in the quarterfinals.

Spain will now play Morocco next, and if they win, there would be a quarterfinal duel against possibly Portugal.


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