David Silva scored two and set up another as he inspired Spain’s 5-0 hammering of a defensively woeful Costa Rica side in Saturday’s friendly clash at La Rosaleda.
Julen Lopetegui’s men played with immense freedom throughout, as they stroked the ball around in style and took full advantage of Costa Rica’s poor defensive organisation, as the away side made errors for each of Spain’s first four goals.
Costa Rica actually showed flashes of promise early on, but that quickly vanished as Spain took control, with Jordi Alba’s Silva-influenced opening goal after just six minutes ushering in a period of real dominance.
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The lively Alvaro Morata added a second in the 23rd minute and probably should have scored at least hat-trick before his half-time withdrawal.
But Spain’s attacking unit hardly suffered for Morata’s substitution, as Silva added two goals in four minutes shortly after the restart, making the most of hapless goalkeeping and calamitous defending.
4 – Players with the most goals scored for Spain :
David Villa 59
Raul Gonzalez 44
Fernando Torres 38
DAVID SILVA 35
Wizard. pic.twitter.com/5nCh2hLubD— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 11, 2017
Andres Iniesta added a fifth towards the end to wrap things up, with Costa Rica left realising that they have much to improve upon if they are to emulate their 2014 World Cup showing next year, while Spain already look ready to prove a point in Russia.
Both sides looked purposeful in attack during the early exchanges, but defensively Costa Rica left a lot to be desired and Spain took the lead just six minutes in.
Silva’s low cross into the penalty area was not dealt with by Costa Rica and Alba was there to meet it, sending a fierce first-time effort into the right side of the net.
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Morata then went close twice in as many minutes shortly after, testing goalkeeper Danny Carvajal from a tight angle on both occasions.
Carvajal gifted Morata a goal a little later, though.
Silva and Iniesta combined down the left with a clever one-two and the Manchester City man eventually played the ball into the area along the ground, with Carvajal inexplicably palming it right into the path of Morata, who had an easy finish.
5 – @AlvaroMorata has scored in his four last appearances for Spain in a row (5 goals). Killer pic.twitter.com/mW8v8cdcbG
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 11, 2017
Morata should have had another just before the break, but he shot straight at Carvajal when played through by Isco’s exquisite defence-splitting pass.
Spain were arguably even more relentless in attack upon the start of the second half and they extended their lead early on, with Silva sweeping home from close range after Francisco Calvo’s attempted clearance smashed against Oscar Duarte and dropped kindly for the midfielder.
Silva doubled his tally a few minutes later, robbing Bryan Oviedo with a brilliant tackle and then finding the bottom-left corner from 18 yards, despite Carvajal getting a hand to it.
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A flurry of substitutions for both sides soon impacted on the play, but Spain scored again once they re-discovered their rhythm.
Costa Rica freely invited Iniesta to charge towards their penalty area and the Barcelona star sent a 25-yard drive into the bottom-left corner, with Carvajal again looking as though he could have done better.
The visitors were afforded a little more possession in Spain’s half towards the end, but the match had been won and lost long before.
Source: HindustanTimes