Five things we learned: IR Iran v Spain
Spain are saving the best for the latter stages and Portugal should we weary of an IR Iran upset. It's five things we learned about IR Iran v Spain.
DIEGO COSTA'S GOOD FORM CRUCIAL FOR SPAIN
Spain have a relative lack of international experience up front with their three forwards totalling 27 caps between them. To put this into context, they won the World Cup in 2010 with Fernando Torres and David Villa who at the time boasted over 140 appearances between them - they both went on to play crucial roles in Spain’s triumph.
Spain need a reliable target man to get far in this competition and Diego Costa’s hot streak continuing is exactly what they need. He’s now scored nine in his previous nine games
SPAIN WILL SAVE THEIR BEST FOR THE LATTER STAGES
Slaven Bilic was disappointed with Spain’s performance tonight and rightfully so. But winning a World Cup is all about peaking at the right time and saving the best for the knockout stages.
Spain will know that a disappointing performance now doesn’t write the script for what is still to come.
PORTUGAL CANNOT RELAX AGAINST IRAN
Even though they would never admit it, the Portugal camp will be feeling like they’ve got one foot in the next round. But Iran showed tonight that they have the capability to upset the big teams. They hadn’t lost in 22 games before Spain ended their run, and they are ranked an impressive 37th world for a reason.
Even Spain needed a fortuitous goal to get over the line, Portugal will need a very solid performance to see them through.
ISCO THE KEY SPANIARD
Isco saw more possession of the ball than anyone else on the park, completed 92% of his passes, and led the game in crosses. He also helped defensively during IR Iran’s dangerous spells by winning the ball back as many times as anyone else.
IR Iran’s defence did everything they could to prevent Spain breaking through, and the 26-year-old played a key part in weakening their resilience.
VAR GOES UNDER THE RADAR
VAR went unnoticed and undiscussed for seemingly the first time ever. IR Iran scored, VAR correctly disallowed the goal, everyone accepted the decision and moved on.