Spain comfortably won its group game against Saudi Arabia 4-0 (3-0). The European champions celebrated their first victory in the second World Cup game. The Spaniards quickly took a clear lead, but were just as quickly satisfied with that.
The reaction to the 0-0 draw against Cape Verde didn’t take long to arrive. Superstar Lamine Yamal gave the Spaniards the lead in the eleventh minute. Center forward Mikel Oyarzabal, who was still scolded after the first game, then scored a brace (21st/24th). Coach Luis de la Fuente was able to take the two goalscorers off the pitch at half-time to rest them.
An unfortunate own goal from Hassan Al-Tambakti (49th) started the second half of the game. Overall, the Spaniards slowed down a gear or two after a strong first half hour in front of 68,239 spectators in the sold-out stadium in Atlanta. Instead of gaining further self-confidence for the upcoming games, they settled for an easy victory. And there was hardly any impetus coming from the Jokers.
“We are very happy,” said Oyarzabal. His coach had “seen a different game” than against Cape Verde. De la Fuente described the opening phase against Saudi Arabia with goals from Lamine Yamal and Oyarzabal as “fantastic”. The coach was particularly happy for Oyarzabal, who had received a lot of criticism against Cape Verde: “He is very important for us.”
Saudi Arabia’s Greek national coach Georgios Donis said: “It was very difficult for us – against one of the biggest teams in the world. It was an experience for us that we have to learn from.”
Spain angry at first, but not precise enough…
De la Fuente had made four changes compared to the Cape Verde game. In addition to Pedro Porro, there were three new offensive forces: Dani Olmo, Alex Baena and superstar Lamine Yamal. And it was clear that Lamine Yamal in particular had big plans. The 18-year-old had the first shots, but Mohammed Al-Owais’ goal was initially not in danger. Dani Olmo’s volley from a corner also went wide (8′).
… then Saudi Arabia becomes a pawn
But a shot from the keeper turned into a boomerang. Baena sent Oyarzabal down the left wing. The striker lifted his head and played the perfect pass to the far post. Lamine Yamal ran through there and flicked the ball over the line to make it 1-0 (11th).
Then man of the first half: Mikel Oyarzabal scored two goals – and almost a third.
A little later, Oyarzabal didn’t hesitate for long at the penalty area. However, Al-Owais fished his powerful shot out of the corner. The Basque’s second shot was perfect: Saudi Arabia couldn’t get the ball away from a corner, Oyarzabal was wide awake and poked the ball into the net to make it 2-0 (21′).
And just three minutes later the game was already decided. As loosely as in a training game, the Iberians combined through the opponent’s penalty area via Porro, Marc Cucurella and Olmo. This time Oyarzabal was free at the far post and shot the ball in for a third (24′). And he almost scored a hat trick. After a bad pass from the keeper, the striker shot straight in, but failed to hit the crossbar (36′).
The Saudis remain without a shot on goal
The Saudis lost hearing and seeing. They hardly even got the ball in the Spanish Tiki-Taka. The only means were long passes to striker Firas Al-Buraikan. However, the 26-year-old was not able to prevail once. However, the Spaniards increasingly held back towards the end of the first half, so the deficit remained manageable. In total, the Spaniards had 17 shots on goal. Two were recorded for the Saudis, although not one found its way to the goal.
Goalkeeper Mohammad Al-Owais was by far the Saudis’ best player.
Spain is satisfied with 4-0
If the Saudis had any hopes at half-time, they were finally gone four minutes after the restart. After a corner, Marc Cucurella again finished completely freely at the far post. Al-Owais somehow parried the very hard shot. But Al-Tambakti got the rebound – own goal, 0:4. Shortly afterwards, Al-Owais prevented the score from becoming 5-0 when he was there against Porro and Ferran Torres, who had come on for Oyarzabal (53′).
Ferran Torres was now the asset, but still didn’t cut a happy figure in the end. After a great pass from Mikel Merino, the striker shot freely past the goal (65th). The Saudis tried their best to maybe get something done, but the favorites remained focused in defense. Goalkeeper Unai Simon wasn’t even seriously challenged until the final whistle. The finish from Abdullah Al-Hamdan (81st), Ronaldo’s team-mate at Al-Nassr, was nothing more than a “shot”.
The Spaniards cheered again, at least briefly. But Ferran Torres’ supposed 5-0 didn’t count because of offside.
outlook
With four points now, the Spaniards are on the way to victory in Group H. Coach de la Fuente’s team continues against Uruguay on Saturday (2 a.m. CEST) in the Guadalajara Stadium in Zapopan. Saudi Arabia meets Cape Verde in Houston at the same time. ARD will broadcast the duel between the outsiders live on TV and at sportschau.de.
