ENRIQUE EYES WORLD CUP AS SPAIN WARMS TO BEATEN HEROES
AT various points in this tournament, Spain have felt the heat more than Brits abroad on the Spanish costas. A tame goalless draw against Sweden was not the sort of starter Spanish fans ordered. And Alvaro Morata, right, came in for despicable abuse early on, when chance after chance went begging. Coach Luis Enrique was heavily criticised for not naming any Real
Madrid players in his squad – and more than once went into a game hearing his job was on the line.
But yesterday morning, Spanish newspaper Marca’s yellow and red headline screamed “CON HONOR” - ‘WITH HONOUR’.
Enrique’s team have departed the tournament, but doing so by the slimmest of margins, just one step short of the final, means that semi-final despair brings great hope too, with the World Cup in Qatar just 16 months away.
“Would we be better or worse with the missing players right now?” said Enrique, after losing on penalties to Italy at Wembley. “Who can say?
“The players who are in the best form will be in my squads, now, as always. I love competition. I’d like to go to the World Cup with
as powerful and s this one. But who can to the future?”
The thought of Spain dding lustre to a side – and a performance – that enthralled fans on Tuesday night will put the frighteners on any teams. r now, though, plaudits r of the day. Just as the team’s praises, so
Enrique was bursting with pride at the way his squad had performed.
He said: “If I wanted to give my players marks, I think we deserve an ‘excellent’.
“I think that they’ve been marvellous. I have no reproaches. It’s time for them to rest now.
“I’ve seen many positive things, with young players who contributed so much.
“The objective was to form a team and make the fans proud of their players and we did that.” And before departing the Euro 2020 stage, the Spain boss showed his own class, despite the agony of a shoot-out loss.
Enrique said: “In professional sport we all have to learn how to win and how to take defeat. That’s why I want to congratulate Italy.
“We’re going back home to Spain safe in the knowledge that we were clearly among the best teams at this tournament.”