Spain vs. Russia in hostile territory
MOSCOW— For a team that fired its coach two days before its first World Cup match, Spain has quietly played its way into a fine position.
Sure, there have been questions about the defence and criticism from fans back home, but Spain still did enough to win its group, opening its campaign under new coach Fernando Hierro with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Portugal. La Roja followed that with a victory over Iran and then salvaged a draw against Morocco with an injury-time equalizer.
Three matches, six goals scored, five conceded: That was good enough to earn a favourable matchup Sunday with host Russia (TSN,10 a.m.), which has overachieved in the tournament, rather than robust Uruguay, which didn’t allow a goal in the group stage. The Spaniards also squeezed into the half of the draw that doesn’t include Brazil, France or Belgium.
Long known for its defence, Spain didn’t give up a single goal in the knockout stage during its 2010 World Cup triumph.
Some of this year’s goals can be traced to individual mistakes — with goalkeeper David De Gea under particular scrutiny — rather than systemic breakdowns. Hierro has pledged to stick with De Gea, and attention to detail on the back end against Russia ought to be enough for a team of Spain’s superior talent.
Spain will have to deal with a hostile crowd at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, the historic and much-renovated venue where Russia opened the World Cup with a 5-0 romp over Saudi Arabia.
“Luzhniki is my stadium,” Russian coach Stanislav Cherchesov said. But Russia looked overmatched against Uruguay in similar friendly environs in Samara.
CROATIA VS. DENMARK TSN, 2 p.m.
Both teams were unbeaten in group play, but Croatia was far more impressive. Entering the tournament 20th in the FIFA rankings, Croatia has outscored opponents 7-1, including a 3-0 humiliation of Argentina.
The only team to equalize against Croatia was Iceland on a 76th-minute penalty in a match the group leader didn’t need to win.
Even so, coach Zlatko Dalic said he was “annoyed” by the misstep against Iceland. This Croatia team has high standards, as Denmark coach Age Hareide knows. Asked to analyze his opponent in detail, Hareide smiled and shook his head: “Very good. It’s very good.”
Captain Luka Modric, whose club team is Real Madrid, is the 32-year-old leader of a veteran squad that also includes 30year-old Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona and 32-year-old Mario Mandzukic of Juventus. Croatia’s best World Cup result was a semifinal appearance in 1998, and Dalic has said this team is deeper than that one.
The Danes, meanwhile, have just two goals — one by Tottenham star Christian Eriksen — and one victory, over Peru. Denmark managed a 1-1 draw against Australia and then was content to lay back in a 0-0 draw against France that benefited both teams.
The star for Denmark has been goalkeeper Kaspar Schmeichel. The goal by Australia was the only one he’s allowed in the team’s last seven matches.
“That he’s played so well is not a surprise to us,” captain and defender Simon Kjaer said.
The winner of Spain-Russia awaits the Croatia-Denmark victor.