Sorry Spain are saved by late leveller
It WILL be a long climb to the top of the world from here if Spain are actually going to get there. their group’s quite extraordinary denouement delivered them a turnaround beyond all expectation.
Not just a 93rd-minute equaliser, but Iran’s own late leveller against Portugal. All of which means Spain will face Russia in the last 16, and then possibly Croatia and either England or Belgium, rather than France and Germany or Brazil.
But it was certainly not a stride out towards the knockout phase. It was a VAR decision, overruling a linesman’s decision to award substitute Iago Aspas the late goal, which avoided a humiliation which they couldn’t have said they did not deserve. they will be glad to face the Russians in Moscow on Sunday afternoon, given the manner of the hosts’ dismantling by Uruguay, whom they avoid.
In Isco, they also possessed last night’s outstanding player. But the tournament has not been shaken to its foundations by the 2010 winners. It was a fight from the start — literally so, at first.
there has not always been much love between the Spanish and Moroccans, who have been at odds over a couple of enclaves on Africa’s Mediterranean coast for years, and that certainly extended to the pitch as the game began.
the Moroccans’ game plan — kick the nearest Spaniard — was deeply unedifying and five of their players were booked before barely half an hour was out.
More unexpected, though, was the so-called elite nation’s own combustibility.
Less lenient referees would have red-carded Gerard Pique for his two-footed tackle on Khalid Boutaib early on. He left the ground when he leapt into the tackle, though Younes Belhanda’s challenge on Andres Iniesta could also have incurred red.
there was a moment of truly extraordinary Spanish floundering in front of defence, too, when Iniesta’s heavy touch on a ball barely 15 minutes in left him and Sergio Ramos dithering over who should take control and retrieve the situation.
Each left the task for the other, resulting in Boutaib seizing the ball, sprinting through with it and tucking it away through David de Gea’s legs.
Iniesta and Ramos slapped hands, as if to say these things happen, but there was an insecurity about the backline which could have seen Boutaib finish a second time.
He was staring into the whites of De Gea’s eyes again on 25 minutes, having run on to nothing more complicated than a throw-in over the top into the space where Dani Carvajal should have occupied.
De Gea stood firm and blocked with his knee. Spain offered brief glimpses of sublimity; football to take your breath away. they had equalised the shock opener inside five minutes through the finest piece of passing architecture — quick exchanges between Iniesta, Isco and Diego Costa, which concluded with Isco clipping the ball into the roof of the net.
For 20 minutes before the interval, Iniesta ran the game, permitted time and space to find the little pockets and to exploit them. But the effect was transient.
though possession belonged to Spain for long spells in the first half, the frontline rarely looked incisive. An Isco header was cleared off the line by Ghanem Saiss. Another neat passing move played David Silva in on goal, though he could not convert.
It had been a quiet night for him, too, and there was no razor edge. Costa was a marginal presence, turning one ball around the corner neatly for thiago, whose finish was wild.
For Morocco, Noureddine Amrabat hit the bar just after half-time and it was on 81 minutes that Youssef En Nesyri stunned Spain, rising above Ramos to power home a header.
there were to be two more twists. Isco’s cross was flicked in by Aspas, played onside by Mbark Boussoufa. the Moroccans howled injustice, though it was validation of VAR here.
the call was marginal, although the defender was quite clearly — if fractionally — playing Aspas onside. And then, Iran’s late leveller.
When Spain were busy sacking Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the tournament, they would have taken this outcome by any means.
But there will need to be a stepchange if they are to seize upon their late salvation, with coach Fernando Hierro saying: ‘I have to say that we were lucky to finish first. I’m going to repeat that our initial goal was to be at the top of the group and we’ve done that.
‘And now we need to be very demanding with ourselves and have very clearly in mind that if we concede so easily, it will be very difficult for us to reach our ultimate goal.’
Morocco coach Herve Renard said: ‘We would have loved to beat Spain. this is why we came here tonight. We suffered, just like any other team who plays Spain. their team is basically Real Madrid and Barcelona, just outstanding.’
SPAIN (4-2-3-1): De Gea 8; Carvajal 6, Pique 6, Ramos 6.5, Alba 6; Busquets 5.5, Thiago 6 (Asensio 74min, 6); Silva 6 (Rodrigo 85), Iniesta 7.5, Isco 8; Costa 5.5 (Aspas 74, 6.5). Scorers: Isco 19, Aspas 90+1. Booked: None. Manager: Fernando Hierro 5.5. MOROCCO (4-2-3-1): El Kajoui 6; Hakimi 6, Da Costa 6.5, Saiss, Ziyech 6.5 (Bouhaddouz 85); El Ahmadi 6, Boussoufa 6; N Amrabat 6.5, Belhanda 6 (Fajr 63, 6), Ziyech 6; Boutaib 7 (En Nesyri 70, 7). Scorers: Boutaib 14, En Nesyri 81. Booked: El Kajoui, Da Costa, Hakimi, El Ahmadi, N Amrabat, Boussoufa. Manager: Herve Renard 7. Man of the match: Isco. Referee: Ravshan Irmatov. Attendance: 33,973.