A/N: Again, I'll post my match comments for Spain NT here like what I did during the Euros! :D
We tied 3-3 against Portugal. This amazing match is so thrilling to watch. To be frank, we do not deserve a tie at all. Our three goals were beautiful, but two of our conceded goals were due to penalty, while another one was due to De Gea (yes, it happened again, like what had happened in the Euros).
We didn't have a really nice start. Portugal got most possession in the first few minutes and this really scared the tears off my eyes. It had only been 2 minutes, we had already conceded our first goal due to penalty. I didn't blame Nacho for the foul but this let me down. Cris scored (no surprise lol) while De Gea got to the wrong direction. I was so nervous before we got our first goal. But we got our possession and organisation back in a short period of time. We also kept our structure very well.
Before commenting on our goals, I have to apologise what I had said about Diego Costa. When our call up was announced, I was disappointed as Costa was being called up despite the poor performance in World Cup 2014. Again, I was angry when he was included in the line up. (At first, I thought he is a spy from Brazil!) However, Costa was brilliant in today's match. He was very aggressive, participating in both attacking and defending. And he used his chances really, really well. The dribbling of his first goal was superb. His stellar performance today is definitely out of my expectation. All I can say is congratulations on the two goals, really impressive, and that he has now regained my trust.
Isco's shot almost got it! It was so beautiful, just a few centimetres to cross the goal line! Actually Isco has one of the best performance today, always having the ball possessed, passing the ball accurately and creating a lot of chances. Not to mention Andres' shot as well. It could have become a wonderful goal if not for that slight bit! Nacho's long-range goal was simply jaw-dropping. That volley and curve was so rare that I could hardly react. For Portugal, the last penalty goal is beautiful, not surprising at all to the king Cristiano Ronaldo haha. Quite disappointed at Pique's foul though, he shouldn't push Cris at that position and time, which led to the penalty.
Apart from attacks, our defense was pretty impressive too. De Gea didn't even have to touch the ball! Sergio Ramos had to take the credit. Pique was not bad either. Portugal occasionally challenged us with counter-attacks but our speed of our defense was swift.
Now the rant time. David fucking De Gea, the King of blunders in Spain. This is the one last time I was putting my trust in this player, and what did we get from him? A fucking Loris Karius! (Sorry Karius. Actually I feel bad for you.) I could have felt bad for De Gea too, but it was not his first mistake! It was his 7th time since two years! Remember his blunders in Euro to the recent mistake against Switzerland? He may be great in Manchester United, but he's worse than shit in the national team! I can't even remember when was the last time he saved a fucking shot! He didn't even pay effort in this team! He never has the passion for his country! What a waste to Diego's and Nacho's effort! One Iker Casillas is far much better than ten De Gea's packed in front of the goal line! Note that Iker had been selected as April's best European goalkeeper this year and he had been the MVP that led Porto to the top of the Portuguese league. Not to mention that he has experience in tournaments and the heart for his country! (Too bad he isn't called up by Lopetegui as he wanted to drop out old players) And De Gea? "Known as" the greatest goalkeeper in the recent days, but nothing for the national team, nothing! Just a sole ugly statue in front of the goal! It just simply seemed like we didn't even have a goalkeeper! What was De Gea even thinking?
Although I didn't agree with replacing Costa, I can't blame Hierro for the substitution. It's too risky to stay winning at 3-2 and we should score more at that moment. However, Hierro is only the sudden replacement of Lopetegui as the coach. He didn't have much experience so I can't blame him as a fan in spite of my disagreement. Anyway, I wish Hierro the very best!
From the slow counter-attack and the loss of possession, Portugal isn't really good to be honest. They only have Cristiano, and didn't create much chances for themselves. Also, they can't always win through penalties. Unfortunately, they always got the luck, like what happened in the Euros. I don't want to be biased on this but we can all reach a consensus that Spain definitely deserved the win.
Overall, I was disappointed. Not to the team, of course, but to the results. We should have won three points instead of one. I saw the shadow of the golden era of Spain today, and this got me emotional. This match manifested the beauty of football. Extremely happy and proud for the team!! But as long as we can top our group, then that's okay. If we are going second, the road to finals could be tough.
A/N: What are your opinions? Feel free to leave some comments :) And hopefully history is repeated and we can get the World Cup again! #HagamosQueOccura
P.S.: I just realised it has been ten years since I started supporting Spain NT! Ten years!!