On Thursday, Spain delivered an exceptional display of football as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Austria to qualify for the FIFA World Cup last 16.
The European champions dominated the game, having the ball for long periods and generating much more opportunities to score than Austria.
Their calm demeanour was finally rewarded in the 36th minute when midfielder Pedri passed the ball to Marc Cucurella and he chipped it in front of Austria’s goal for Mikel Oyarzabal to score the goal.
The Spanish were already a threat before the breakthrough. They also missed some goals which included a free kick and the ball striking the goalpost.
Read more: Spain thrash Saudi Arabia 4-0 to go top of Group H
Austria had little luck in building up any sort of attack, they did the best they could when defender Stefan Posch couldn’t control the ball before shooting it.
Austria attempted to change the game after half-time by sending up taller forwards, and a few long balls into Spain’s box, but that didn’t make a huge difference.
Instead, the Spanish side doubled their lead in the 66th minute when the ball was passed to Alex Baena who sent it into front of the Austrian side’s net, where Pedro Porro was able to hit it into the goal with his head.
This was Porro’s first goal for Spain.
Spain dominated possession as the match came down to its final minutes, cheered on by thousands of people in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium.
Oyarzabal scored his second goal of the game in the 89th minute after Marc Cucurella dribbled in front of him, to make the Spaniards 3-0 winners.
Spain will move to the knockout round after defeating Austria 3-0, taking them to face Portugal.
Once again Spain had a dominant performance, which further solidified their status as one of the biggest world-class teams to lift the World Cup trophy.
Also read: Cape Verde goalkeeper stuns Spain with seven crucial saves
