Spain must beat Japan to avoid Brazil clash – Luis Enrique

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Luis Enrique

Mueez Ajao

– Luis Enrique has said Spain won’t “gamble” by playing for a second-place finish in Thursday’s final World Cup group match against Japan in the hope of avoiding a possible quarterfinal clash with favourites Brazil.

– Spain won their opening game against Costa Rica 7-0 before Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Germany to leave them top of Group E on four points, ahead of Japan and Costa Rica on three points, with Germany bottom of the group with one point.

– The winners of the group will face the runners-up in Group F — Morocco, Croatia or Belgium — in the round of 16 before a quarterfinal with the winners of Group G, likely to be Brazil, or the runners-up in Group H.

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– “It’s a great question, because we’ve thought about it too,” Luis Enrique said in a news conference on Wednesday, when asked if finishing second in the group might be better for his side.

– “But imagine we want to finish second, we get to the 90th minute and it’s 0-0 in the two games, and in the 95th minute with 15 seconds left, Japan and Costa Rica both score. You gambled, and you’re out.

– “Or imagine Germany are 5-0 up, we’re looking for a draw, and Japan score and we’re out. When you’re convinced that you have a very good team and you want to play seven games [to get to the final], it isn’t about finishing second. We want to finish first. If we play Brazil in the quarterfinals, great, we’ll play Brazil. But we won’t count our chickens before they’ve hatched.”

– Spain’s 7-0 win over Costa Rica — the country’s biggest ever at a World Cup — forced them into the conversation about candidates to lift the World Cup in Qatar, before they were held to a 1-1 draw by Germany.

– Five-time World Cup winners Brazil have obtained maximum points so far, beating Serbia 2-0 in their Group G opener thanks to a second-half brace from Richarlison, before Casemiro’s late strike gave them a 1-0 win over Switzerland.

– “Brazil are a world power, a clear favourite in any World Cup, in any year,” Luis Enrique added.

– “Brazil will always be among the favourites, they have a lot of individual and collective quality. Beyond that, there aren’t any surprises. I look at the FIFA rankings and the majority of the favourites are in the top ten. France and Brazil have both won comfortably, they’re top teams.”

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