Spain vs. Ukraine Results, Scores & HIghlights: Defending Euro Cup Champs Manage 1-0 Win; What We Learned
Spain moved one step closer toward qualifying for the Euro 2016 when it defeated Ukraine on Friday.
The defending Champs came into the game with a plethora of questions to answer. While some were answered, others were left unanswered.
Latin Post takes a look at those questions and see what the game told us about the Spaniards:
1. Would this team choke in a big game against the Ukrainians?
There was once a time when the Spaniards were choke artists. And then they became invincible. Since the World Cup, the choking label has reappeared and no one would be remiss to think that the team could potentially lose this tough game against Ukraine.
And there were hairy moments that could have led to defeat, but Spain held on and pulled out a solid 1-0 win.
2. Would Alvaro Morata provide Spain with its solution at the striker position?
Yes and no. Morata, in just his third appearance for Spain made a terrific run in the 28th minute to find enough separation to receive Koke's one-time flick and find the net. It was the eventual game winner and showed some speed and versatility from the young forward. But that ultimately proved to be his only major contribution. He had 20 touches in the entire match, until he was replaced by Pedro, and had a grand total of 10 passes. He had three poor touches and was dispossessed twice; defensively he committed three fouls and did nothing else.
He had only one shot on target of his three, which resulted in the goal. However, it is clear that he is not the clear answer for Spain offensively.
The problem of course goes beyond Morata or any forward really. And that leads to the next question.
3. Would Vicente Del Bosque create a mix-up in the playing style to get more out of his players?
Del Bosque went with a 4-1-4-1 formation in this match which protected him at the back (somewhat), but really opened up the attack with essentially four attacking midfielders. Throw in the offensive-minded Juanfran Torres and Jordi Alba and this system often became a 2-1-6-1.
It allowed Spain to retain possession in the offensive end a lot (and they did to the tune of 63-37), but the penetration was simply not there for the most part. Spain took 16 shots at goal but only three were on target; the Ukrainians took nine shots overall and found the target twice.
In all it looked like a Spain that had the potential to explode in the offensive third, but still retained the exasperating conservatism that has often made the side predictable.
4. Would Iker Casillas play and would he cost the team?
The captain was once deemed untouchable and his play certainly gained him that stature. But the poor World Cup followed by the high profile mistake against Slovakia has turned him into a source for frustration for Spanish fans the world over. And this is only exacerbated by the fact that David De Gea is his back up.
On current form, no one will question whether De Gea is better than Casillas that the moment; he is.
Under most circumstances he would be the top choice in goal. But not for Del Bosque who elected for playing Casillas instead.
It could have cost him big, but instead it wound up being a boon. With Spain reeling a bit in the second half it was Casillas who made a decisive stop in the 66th minute to keep the game in Spain's favor. Granted the shot was not necessarily the best taken by Ruslan Rotan, but there can be no doubt that Casillas' reflexes in this moment served him and his team very well.