#3 Spain creative, but wasteful in finishing
Spain did what they do best on the field – dominate possession, find pockets of space through their creative midfielders and create golden goal-scoring chances. David Silva and Andres Iniesta were as usual – displaying their visionary class in the middle of the pitch to find the striker upfront with that killer pass.
However, the finishing touch was somewhat missing from Juventus’ Alvaro Morata. His tendency to congest the midfield despite the presence of 5 Spanish players meant that there was no one in a position to meet the cross coming in from the wings. Even when he did manage to meet a final pass or cross, Morata was brilliantly denied by Cech. In short, it was a frustrating afternoon for Morata, who would later be subbed off to be replaced by 35-year old Aritz Aduriz, who could not make the desired impact in the striker’s role.
Jordi Alba also missed a glorious opportunity from a one-on-one situation to put Spain in front after 70 minutes, failing to make the most of another delightful pass by Silva.
It required a defender in Gerard Pique to finally get on the end of a cross by Andres Iniesta to beat Cech and give his side all three points.
If they must overcome Turkey and Croatia, they will have to work on their movements inside the 18-yard box to reward the work of the midfielders.
