Spain arrived at the biggest tournament on the planet, held in North America, as the reigning European champions and the second-ranked team in the FIFA rankings, behind only Argentina. However, after the group stage, Spain's performance couldn't compare to that of France, who finished the group stage with a perfect record of three wins out of three matches. In the list of contenders for the World Cup title, Spain, from number one, has been pushed down to third place behind France and Argentina. Nevertheless, with a talented young squad combined with world-class stars in every position and a versatile playing style, Spain's teenage star, Lamine Yamal, confidently asserts that Spain is the strongest team in the world at this time. According to the Barcelona star, France is not as strong as Spain because Les Bleus haven't beaten La Roja in the last two years. "France haven't beaten us since the EURO 2024 finals, so they're not stronger than us at this moment. France are at a very high level, in good physical condition and have great players, but I don't think they're superior to any other team. In my opinion, no team is stronger than Spain," Yamal declared. And on the morning of July 3rd, Spain somewhat proved Yamal's statements were well-founded by crushing Austria 3-0 in the round of 16.
On the other side of the pitch, with a 3-3 equalizer against Algeria in the final seconds of the match, Austria became the first team in World Cup history to avoid defeat after falling behind in injury time of the second half, thus securing a place in the Round of 16 as runners-up in Group J thanks to a better goal difference than Algeria. This also marked the first time since 1954 that Austria had advanced beyond the group stage of the World Cup. In that tournament, they finished third overall. After progressing from the group stage, Austria's next goal was to reach the Round of 16 for the first time in 72 years. However, just five days after the 3-3 draw against Algeria, coach Rangnick found it difficult to address the systemic problems in the defense. Therefore, the ambitions of Rangnick's team were seriously questioned when they had to face Spain, a team with many dangerous attacking stars, most notably Lamine Yamal. Against a formidable opponent like Spain, Rangnick's team needed to play with more than 200% effort, along with a glimmer of luck, to stop Spain, who were desperate for their first knockout round victory in the World Cup since 2010. However, on a day when the Spanish team delivered a sublime performance, Austria was completely helpless and suffered a heavy defeat.
Returning to the match, Spain quickly took control of the game and constantly put Austria's goal under threat after the opening whistle. In the 36th minute, Cucurella's cross created an opportunity for Oyarzabal to score from close range. The score should have been 2-0 for Spain before halftime, if Baena's free-kick hadn't hit the crossbar and Yamal's rebound hadn't been saved by the goalkeeper in the 45+2 minute. In the second half, Spain continued to maintain their dominance, and in the 66th minute, Pedro Porro headed in a precise cross from Baena to make it 2-0. In the 89th minute, Cucurella provided a perfect assist for Oyarzabal to beat goalkeeper Schlager in a one-on-one situation, sealing a 3-0 victory for Spain. With this resounding win against Austria, Spain sent a strong message to all their opponents on their journey to conquer the World Cup this year.
Source: https://baolamdong.vn/khang-dinh-suc-manh-451497.html
