Nine games without a defeat for Lopetegui’s Spain / Image via fichajes.com
Spanish boss maintained his unbeaten record which now stands at nine matches without defeat, as Spain claw back to claim a 2-2 draw against Colombia on Wednesday night.
La Roja took lead through David Silva, but the Colombians leveled the score somewhat unexpectedly with Edwin Cardona setting the half-time score. The Spaniards dominated the proceedings but were stunned with a towering header from Radamel Falcao after 55 minutes and left to chase the result until the very end of the game.
Real Madrid man Alvaro Morata stepped up to the plate to save his manager’s unbeaten record and score the equalizer with three minutes left on the clock.
Here are the five things we learned tonight:
Alvaro Morata’s price just went up a notch
Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata got used to his substitute role, which was exactly the one he performed in Murcia as well.
Morata got introduced nearly the hour-mark and was of instant influence for la Roja. Former Juventus front man produced a fine header after he got in front of his man, steering a pinpoint header into the bottom corner to set the final score of the game, 2-2.
Alvaro Morata is the second on the list of La Liga players with best minutes-per-goal ratio, averaging a goal every 88.7 minutes. Given the number of minutes he spends on the pitch, perhaps Real Madrid’s evaluation of their man might not sound that mad after all.
Manchester United are thought to have approached Los Blancos over a proposed £52 million bid, but Real Madrid demanded £75 for the homegrown star and tonight’s goal might just forces them to keep the bar high.
Needless hostility almost marred the occasion
The match in Murcia might have been officially labeled a friendly one, but none of the sides approached it in such manner.
With both Spain and Colombia known for their flaring tempers and characters, perhaps one could expect to see a vigorous encounter, but several duels between the rivaling players almost crossed the line.
It all started with a minor flare-up between Juan Cuadrado and Jordi Alba who got tangled on the floor and almost come to blows in the first half of the match. The referee was forced to step in to sort it all out together with other players on the pitch and no cards were given out of good spirit.
Tempers continued to flair however and six minutes after the half-hour mark we saw the first yellow card of the game. Manchester City midfielder David Silva was booked for a truly cynical trip on Radamel Falcao.
And as the first half was drawing to a close, there was another scene of needless execive physicality as Davinson Sanchez became the second name in the book for a truly poor, late challenge on Iago Aspas.
Pepe Reina a huge liability for Spain…
Julen Lopetegui’s decision to start the Colombia friendly with experienced Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina in goal can ultimately be considered a wise one as the Spanish boss now has a rather clear picture on whether he can count on the 34-year-old.
With Macedonia qualifier lurking around the corner, Pepe Reina’s performance against Colombia is a clear indicator that former Liverpool shot stopper is far away from being the player he once was.
Out-of-form Napoli goalkeeper was not fully in the game tonight, displaying a worrying lack of confidence and composure. A couple of shaky moments saw him get very nearly to giving the ball away in his own area before getting beaten by Radamel Falcao in the second half.
The Spaniard should have done much better on the goal itself but his poor positioning allowed AS Monaco star to calmly head the ball in the back of the net.
…which can’t be said for Colombia’s David Ospina though
On the other side of the pitch, and the other side of the specter honestly, out-of-sorts Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina put in a commanding display for Colombia.
Well-aware that the Spain friendly could be a good opportunity to present himself in front of possible suitors – just like Reina for that matter – the Colombia shot stopper made most of the transfer window shop and made a couple of key saves. He did concede on the night, but still got his hand on the ball and was really unlucky to be beaten by David Silva in the end whereas Morata’s shot was out of his reach.
Linked with a move to Turkey this summer, David Ospina will have used the positive performance against Spain to boost his confidence ahead of what truly can be a defining transfer window in his career.
Colombia stars fail to impress
Jose Pekerman’s men struggled for the better part of the game against Spain despite almost winning it in the end.
It took Colombia entire fifteen minutes to hold up the ball in Spain’s final third. James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao as the two biggest Colombia stars greatly suffered and struggled to get into the match.
The two players that were expected to lead by example were well defended and their influence was significantly limited by the Spanish second-string side. Real Madrid playmaker Rodriguez barely had a kick tonight, but he sprung into life after 35 minutes and almost scored a beauty of a goal with the outside of his left foot. Unfortunately, that moment of brilliance ended up being the only notable detail in his overall performance which was prematurely ended with ten minutes on the clock.
Radamel Falcao, on his own part, also had a silent night despite scoring the winning goal. His towering header was far from being labeled as the act of a genius as he bullied Cesar Azpilicueta at the back post to plant a firm header past the poorly-positioned Pepe Reina who was all over the place tonight.
Both players must have done much better with guiding hte team forward with their authority and credibility.
SPAIN: Reina 5.5 – Azpilicueta 6, Pique 6 (Deulofeu 6), Nacho 6.5, Alba 6. (Niguez 6.5) – Koke 6.5, Illaramendi 6.5, Iniesta 6.5 (Asensio 6) – Silva 7 (Monreal 6), Aspas 6 (Morata 7), Pedro 6.5 (Vitolo 6).
Unused subs: Alcantara, Busquets, Costa.
COLUMBIA: Opsina 7 – Arias 6, Sanchez 6.5 (Murillo 6), Zapata 6, Armero 6 – Aguilar 6 (Torres 6.5), Sanchez 6.5 – Cuadrado 7 (Izquierdo 6), Rodriguez 6.5 (Muriel 6), Cardona 7 (Moreno 6), Falcao 7 (Bacca 6).
Unused subs: Barrios, Borja, Fabra, Gutierrez, Medina, Mina, Vargas.
REFEREE: Slavko Vincic
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