If the world was waiting for a statement performance from Spain, even this wasn’t it – because it didn’t have to be. But La Roja are starting to purr and achieving such serene passage into the last 16, with many gears yet to go through, makes them even more ominous.
The European champions were far too good for Austria, simultaneously dominating Ralf Rangnick’s side while seeming to keep plenty in reserve for more stringent tests to come. Starting with Portugal or Croatia on Monday.
Then, surely, Spain will be pressed harder for answers to questions they have so far been able to flat bat through the first half of the tournament.
Weirdly, much of the scrutiny around Luis de la Fuente and his men has been around his midfield. The Spain coach has chopped and changed in each game so far, looking for the formula to get their game flowing.
De la Fuente probably found it against Austria.
With Rodri and Pedri operating behind Dani Olmo as a 10, all three looked happier in their natural positions.
De la Fuente has tried Pedri, Olmo and Mikel Merino off the front men in the group stage. In Olmo, he picked the right option for the start of the knockout phase, especially with Pedri pulling strings from deeper as he does with Barcelona.
Spain also have worries wide – not that you would know it in Los Angeles.
They arrived in the United States with three of their four wingers injured – including Lamine Yamal – and finished the group stage with the same numbers. Crucially, the one available to De la Fuente is Yamal.
The 18-year-old lit up the first half here, toying with the Austria left. Konrad Laimer was the poor soul selected to play at full-back and though the Bayern Munich utility man battled gamely, it wasn’t a fair fight, illustrated by two nutmegs in the opening 35 minutes.
Yamal, though, did not take his chances, including one from point-blank range. But Mikel Oyarzabal is showing the ruthlessness his team-mates are still working towards, the Real Sociedad striker scoring his third and fourth goals of the tournament to top and tail a 3-0 win.
Surrounded by Yamal, Pedri and the superstars around him, Oyarzabal so often slips under the radar. Perhaps because, as a striker, he’s hard to pigeonhole. He’s not a traditional 9, a 10, or even a false 9. He knows when to drop in to get involved in the build, creating central spaces for others; he knows when to stay high. And with 17 goals in his last 16 international starts, Spain have the perfect striker for them without the fanfare of the other favourites’ frontmen.
Both of Oyarzabal’s goals came from wide, but neither from wingers, which will please De la Fuente.
The coach stressed the importance of others stepping up to create and score while Yamal and the other wide attackers ease themselves back, so his full-backs stepped up.
Either side of Pedro Porro’s first international goal, Marc Cucurella laid on both of Oyarzabal’s goals and should have had one of his own.
The Real Madrid new boy was denied after Austria keeper Alexander Schlager was adjudged to have been fouled under a Spain corner. He was not.
Germany’s disallowed goal against Paraguay, which has set in motion the axing of Julian Nagelsmann, has set the bar for contact on keepers at corners. Compared to what we’ve seen in the Premier League, it is woefully low.
We need a middle ground between keepers being violated in the Premier League and the forcefields around them at the World Cup. Sadly, we aren’t holding our breath on one being found anytime soon.
Whatever fear Spain may have had of Cucurella’s disallowed goal being as consequential as Germany’s was gone inside six minutes, when Pedri illustrated why he is better further back where it is easier to find space.
Too easily he found a pocket behind Austria’s most advanced pair and teased out Xaver Schlager before breezing past him too. Austria’s press is fine when they hunt in packs, but when they allow themselves to be picked off individually, as they found against Argentina, the best players will punish them. Pedri fed Cucurella, who teed up Oyarzabal for a goal that seemed too simple.
Once in front, Spain could play at a canter, safe in the knowledge Austria did not have the quality to pierce the World Cup’s best defence so far.
While a spectator for much of the second half, Unai Simon broke Walter Zenga’s record of 517 minutes without conceding a goal at the World Cup finals.
While we all marvel at the attacking flair on show from their rivals and the potential we know Spain still have to achieve, their defensive resilience could be just as pivotal in getting La Roja a second star.
Their rear-guard will face stiffer tests but we know they can handle most of what lays ahead on the path now before them. Thrillingly, their attacking potential remains to be seen.
