Spain vs. Costa Rica: Spain beat Costa Rica on Wednesday, making sure that they wouldn’t be the next big-name team to lose in a World Cup upset.
Germany’s loss to Japan in Group E was one of the tournament’s biggest upsets to date, but Luis Enrique’s squad dominated from the opening whistle in their first encounter.
In the fifth minute, Pedri’s superbly weighted pass over the top of the Costa Rica defense found Dani Olmo, whose cushioned shot just missed the goal.
Moments later, Pedri again created Spain’s next opportunity, this time setting up substitute striker Marco Asensio, but the Real Madrid forward was unable to score.
Olmo’s wonderful one-two with Gavi over the top of the defense gave La Roja the lead after only 11 minutes, and the RB Leipzig star took the ball back down past Francisco Calvo before dinking it over Keylor Navas’s helpless hands.
This lead was increased halfway through the first half when former teammate Navas could only parry Asensio’s goal from Jordi Alba’s pass.
Oscar Duarte gave a penalty after his knees tangled with Alba’s just before the half-hour mark, and Ferran Torres added Spain’s third goal of the day from the spot.
Spain scored their fourth goal shortly after the restart. Francisco Calvo and Bryan Oviedo failed to defend a Torres dribble deep inside their own penalty area, allowing the Barcelona winger to steal the ball and score past Navas.
With a quarter of an hour left, Gavi raced into the penalty area and struck with the outside of his foot to meet Alvaro Morata’s cross, becoming the youngest player in World Cup history to score for Spain.
In the penultimate minute of regulation, Spain scored their sixth goal. Nico Williams’ low cross was mishandled by Navas, enabling Carlos Soler to score on the rebound.
Morata scored the last goal of the onslaught in stoppage time as Costa Rica’s miserable day drew to a close.
Spain vs. Costa Rica player ratings
Spain (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper Unai Simon received a 6/10 for his lack of action. As Enrique maintains, acted as an additional outfielder.
RB: Cesar Azpilicueta – 6/10 – There were a few raised eyebrows when he was selected to the starting lineup. In retrospect, it was ideal for Azpilicueta to replace the ailing Dani Carvajal with such a walkover.
CB: Rodri – 6/10 – Enrique has little faith in his center-back alternatives, as he starts as a natural midfielder in defense.
CB: Aymeric Laporte – 6/10 – A misunderstanding with Busquets occurred early on, but everything went well afterward.
LB: Jordi Alba – 8/10 – Like Azpilicueta, Alba’s ongoing participation with Spain has been questioned, but he rolled back the years with a typical lung-busting display here.
Sergio Busquets – 7/10 – Another member of Enrique’s old guard who seemed comfortable in a game played at their own tempo.
CM: Gavi – 10/10 – Impressive debut in a big competition. Gavi darted between the lines and resembled the famous midfielders who came before him.
CM: Pedri – 8/10 – Ditto. The future of Spain is secure so long as the Barcelona combo remains healthy.
RW: Ferran Torres – 8/10 – The most subdued of Spain’s front three, but he scored twice and raced both sides with delight.
CF: Marco Asensio – 8/10 – Asensio seemed to be a natural center striker, causing Costa Rica’s defenders problems regardless of whether he was racing in behind or dropping deep.
Dani Olmo, left-wing, received a score of nine out of ten for his flawless coordination with his fellow attackers and supporting midfielders.
SUB: Alvaro Morata (57′ for Torres) – 8/10
SUB: Carlos Soler (57′ for Pedri) – 7/10
SUB: Alejandro Balde (64′ for Alba) – 7/10
SUB: Koke (64′ for Busquets) – 6/10
Neco Williams subs for Asensio in the 69th minute. – 7/10
Manager: Luis Enrique – 9/10 – A perfect beginning. The success of Enrique’s players was commensurate with his selection choices.
Costa Rica (4-4-2)
GK: Keylor Navas is 2/10. Spain’s second goal was probably not as good as it could have been. Even so, helpless.
Carlos Martinez, RB, got a 1/10 because Olmo turned him inside out before halftime. A horrible day.
CB: Oscar Duarte, 1/10. He gave away the penalty by getting too close to Alba.
CB: Francisco Calvo – 2/10 – He wasn’t much better than Duarte because he didn’t give away a penalty.
LB: Bryan Oviedo (2/10): One of Costa Rica’s more experienced players didn’t help much on either end.
RM: Keyser Fuller – 1/10 – Fuller, who was a natural right-back, didn’t do much to help Martinez beat Olmo, Torres, and Alba.
CM: Celso Borges got a 3/10 because he didn’t do much to help his team win the midfield battle, which was understandable since they were up against Gavi, Pedri, and Busquets.
CM: Yeltsin Tejeda – 3/10 – Yeah, they were really going to lose this battle.
LM: Jewison Bennette – 4/10 – The break looked lively, but there wasn’t much help.
CF: Joel Campbell, 2/10 – Like Oviedo, he wasn’t able to use what he learned in 2014 to his advantage.
CF: Anthony Contreras gets a 3/10 because he is always anonymous.
Kendall Waston came on in place of Martinez at 46 minutes.
SUB: Alvaro Zamora (62′ for Contreras) – 2/10
SUB: Bryan Ruiz (62′ for Bennette) – 2/10
Brandon Aguilera replaced Borges in the 72nd minute.
SUB: Ronald Matarrita (82′ for Oviedo) – N/A
Manager: Luis Suarez – 3/10 – He couldn’t have done much to stop the team from losing so early, and Costa Rica looked hopeless the whole time.
Gavi was the match’s best player.
