ALCACER’S DOUBLE DELIGHT

SOME perspective is needed when the Gareth Bale shapedhole in the Wales team is even bigger than anyone expected and the stadium shrouded in despondency. But never say that two-goal Paco Alcacer was anything less than a meteor when his moments came. At 25, he is a forward whose chance at the peak seemed to have come and gone when he left Barcelona for Borussia Dortmund on loan last summer. He was looking to rekindle his golden days at Valencia which took him there in the first place. The goals have come — seven in his first four games in Germany — as he has discovered for himself the restorative power of real confidence. Alcacer received very substantial support from a Wales defence short of even the fundamentals needed for a match like this. Yet his finishes — a flashed rightfoot effort into the top left corner and an instinctive volley from close range — revealed why he has been recalled to the Spain side being built on the ashes of the World Cup by Luis Enrique. Only three 2010 World Cup winners are left now — Sergio Ramos, Sergio Busquets and Raul Albiol — and Alcacer certainly fits into what the manager is trying to bring. The traditional No 9s, Diego Costa and Alvaro Morata, have been replaced with strikers of mobility and intelligence, like Alcacer. He played deep, gathering, laying off and then racing into penalty box space. Chelsea’s Morata was one of the few who Wales seemed to be able to handle. His touch was heavy by comparison with Alcacer, who stared into the heavens after each of his goals with the look of a player reborn. There were other contributions for coach Enrique. It should worry England that at 32, Ramos still plays with something of the night about him. Winning with Spain clearly still matters. Rodri, Spain’s holding midfielder, controlled the space in front of his defence. Suso, the Milan midfifelder, was dangerous on the right and the sheer pace of Spain’s passing and movement is less ponderous than in Russia. Even four goals up, Spain did not allow Wales a foothold. There was more from Alcacer as the game wore on — a header which flew narrowly wide. ‘I left Barcelona to be happy,’ he said recently. He has found what he was looking for.