November 27, 2022, 5:29 PM
November 27, 2022, 5:29 PM
When Spain was having the worstIn his second World Cup game, against Germany, Álvaro Morata appeared, entering the field in minute 54, to put Spain ahead on the scoreboard in minute 62.
Later, when Spain was cherishing victory, Niclas Füllkrug (83) would achieve the final draw for Germany (1-1). But that result allows Spain to lead the key AND of the World Cup, with four points, waiting for his last game against Japan.
Morata, who always seems to have a pending account with the Spanish team and who does not feel pampered by the fans of his countrywas lethal eight minutes after entering, scoring at 62.
He had replaced an erratic Ferran Torreswho had missed an empty goal at the end of the first half, to associate with a combative and more brilliant Dani Olmo.
Precisely Olmo, who had thrown a ball over the crossbar in the 7th minute, started the play of the goal opening to the left for Jordi Alba, who hung low into the area for Morata to finish off at the net.
Between that shot at Olmo’s crossbar and Morata’s goal, Spain had hardly existedwith the exception of Ferran’s mistake, with a constantly dangerous Germany.
Only the good saves of Unai Simón and the video arbitration that annulled In the first half, a goal by Antonio Rudiger for Germany for offside saved Spain.
Until Morata appeared. The center forward of Atlético Madrid He fixed the German central defenders and opened spaces that the other two advanced men from Spain, Dani Olmo and Marco Asensio, took advantage of.
Morata scored his 29th goal with the Spanish teamat 30 years old, his second in the World Cup, after having scored the last one in the 7-0 win against Costa Rica, at discount.
And a sweet revenge on his detractors who call him a failure, but who do not influence Luis Enrique, that he has always counted on him since he took office in 2018.
“Since I got here I’m flying. I feel perfect”Morata stated in his first days in Doha.
The striker arrived dragging some hip problems, that had hampered his performance in recent weeks, although his presence in the World Cup was never questioned.
“I’m fantastic. I had a substitute in the last league game against Mallorca (on November 9), but from there, there was a friendly match (against Jordan) that was not worth risking at all. I have trained alone with the coaches, but since I’ve been here, I’ve been perfect,” Morata explained.
The athletic striker was the hero of his teamor in the last League of Nations match against Portugal (1-0 victory) when he scored on the horn the goal that gave La Roja a pass to the final four of the continental tournament.
It was the last of his saving appearances with La Roja, which he also sent to the World Cup in Qatarr by scoring the winning goal against Sweden (1-0) a year ago.
In Euro 2020 he signed the winning goal against Croatia (4-3) in extra time of the round of 16 and forced extra time against Italy in the semifinals, where Spain would finally fall in the penalty shootout.
Morata ended up as one of the heroes of that tournamentwho started as the main villain, the target of criticism for the lack of goals from La Roja.
Luis Enrique then came out in defense of his ‘N.9’ fetish.
“For me, Morata is a great player who does a lot of things well on the pitch, both in attack and in defence”, Luis Enrique said at the time, highlighting the forward’s hard-working facet in defence.
“Álvaro Morata’s defensive level may be equaled by some in Europe, no one improves it. That means having intelligence when it comes to pressing, physical conditions beyond any doubt, at a very high level”, said ‘Lucho’ in the international window last June.
In Qatar, Morata seems to be reciprocating Luis Enrique’s confidence.
