Daily Mirror

CESAR TIPS NEW REIGN FOR SPAIN

- DOMINANT BY SIMON BIRD FROM STEVE BATES

CHELSEA star Cesar Azpilicuet­a says Spain are on a mission to regain their place at the pinnacle of world football.

England tackle Luis Enrique’s freescorin­g squad in Seville on Monday.

The Spaniards have scored 10 goals in two games since beating England at Wembley last month.

They hit World Cup semi-finalists Croatia for six and put four past Wales earlier this week.

The results have restored the faith of Spain fans disappoint­ed by their nation’s last-16 exit at the World Cup.

Azpilicuet­a (right) said: “We are coming from a disappoint­ment in the World Cup and we know we have to recover our place.

“The best way to prepare for Monday’s game was to play a good game against Wales. We were very good on the ball and recovered it quickly when we lost it.

“That’s the way we want to play, to be an offensive team and control the game.”

Azpilicuet­a knows Spain face a tougher task against England than they had against Wales on Thursday.

“England have to win if they want to qualify for the final four in June, and it’s in our hands to close that group by winning,” he said. “The pressure is on both teams.” MOST weeks Real Madrid star Luka Modric plays in front of 81,000 at the Bernabeu where his talents are appreciate­d on a grand scale.

Usually he can’t hear himself think but always seems to have a knack of rising to the occasion.

In the surreal confines of the Stadion HNK Rijeka even FIFA Player of the Year Modric struggled to overcome the sound of silence. Without the fanatical backing of their partisan fans he and his team-mates appeared to suffer more than England in the training-ground conditions.

Apart from one first-half save by Jordan Pickford from Andrej Kramaric, Croatia largely struggled to conjure the menace and quality which helped them overcome Gareth Southgate’s stars in that World Cup semi-final in Moscow.

But if they missed their fans reminding England they were top dogs in Russia Croatian FA President Davor Suker and coach Zlatko Dalic did the job for them. In the match programme, which hardly seemed worth printing given the empty stadium, Suker and Dalic revelled in Croatia’s semi-final win.

But Suker also recognised UEFA’s ban – imposed for a crazy act of provocatio­n when Croatians decided it would be fun to mow a swastika into the pitch before a game against Italy in 2015 – could be a help to England.

Suker called it a “joyless scenery” and pleaded for an end to such racist gestures. “I hope this is the last time that the vicechampi­ons of the world play in an empty stadium,” he said.

“And I call upon every segment of society to join the fight against violence, racism, discrimina­tion and pyrotechni­cs in the stands, in order to enjoy these kind of events in front of full crowds.”

After an uninspirin­g ambience more suited to chess than football we’d all say Amen to that.

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