LLuis Enrique was the last to know, or so he claimed. It was after midnight that he discovered how close he and his team were to disaster at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, the realization was caught on camera. How did he feel during those three minutes Spain were out of the World Cup, he was asked in the post-match press conference after his side lost 2-1 against Japan. What was going through his head? Instead of a response, there was a “eh? and another question. “Three minutes, why? ” he has answered.
A conversation ensues in which only half of Luis Enrique can be heard properly, as the reporter’s microphone has been returned. Usefully, this served as proof, proof of his approach, of the stubbornness that sets him apart. At least that was how he played. ” You do not know ? he was asked. “No,” replied the coach. “I’m not focused on the other game; I only focus on mine…
“Were we eliminated at some point? … When? Why? …Costa Rica won 2-1? … You see? Well, fantastic… Of course. I did not know. At no time did I know. My speech is sincere. I did not come here to speculate. I’m not happy that we lost against Japan. I want the best from my team, to win every game… [if I had known we were] three minutes, I would have had a heart attack.
Luis Enrique had already spoken to the media at the time: there are pitchside positions to pass before the coaches arrive in the press conference room, and while that may not have been expressed explicitly, this momentary elimination was implicit. If he really didn’t know, others did. What happened in the other match, where Costa Rica briefly led, was shown on the giant screens and when Jordi Alba came on after 67 minutes, he brought bad news.
“I was looking at the scoreboard and I could see halfway through the second half that we were out,” admitted Pedri. “Jordi came and said we had to score, that we were out. We wanted to score but it didn’t come.
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Does Luis Enrique really do not know? There was something about that post-game exchange that felt a bit like over-protesting. At that time, it was easy to become a conspirator, even if only with your tongue firmly stuck in your cheeks. Spain had been beaten by Japan but things had gone pretty well. Sometimes it’s better to lose and despite everything the coach said he always wants to win, this was one of those times. Maybe Spain had pulled off an elaborate heist. Maybe it was all just an act, with Luis Enrique playing the role of Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mastermind of our time.
No. Maybe it wasn’t of course, but it was fun to imagine and, boy, did it work. After all, Spain had been there and, losing, eliminated Germany. Finishing second instead of first meant facing Morocco and possibly Portugal rather than Croatia and probably Brazil. Theirs was now the easier side of the draw, or so it is believed. They had even earned themselves an extra day off. And Luis Enrique said ‘that punch in the face could be good, help us realize it’s the World Cup’. Asked if this defeat would shake their confidence, Pau Torres replied: “No, not at all. On the contrary: it puts us on the alert.
And who says Morocco is easier? And is it really a good thing to end up on the side of France and England? “This reading of things is a trap,” the coach said. Pedri added: “We were missing a lot of things. They were very intense and left us with very little space. Asked about what he felt sitting on the bench, knowing that Spain was leaving, César Azpilicueta replied: “That we had to turn around as soon as possible! It’s hard to create optimism after a loss like this. Now we need to have a cool head. Hopefully this will be useful to us in the future.
“It was five minutes, no more,” then insisted Luis Enrique. He said the game has gone “crazy” and it can happen when a team “has nothing to lose”. Spain had been taken by then, unable to control it. Worse still, he said they had gone into “collapse mode” and that is concerning. “Japan scored two and if it had taken three, they would have had three,” he said. “We are far from where we want to be.”
Only they are where they want to be, of course: in the last 16. The impression was bad but they were still standing, still there. Did you know how close you were to elimination, asked Álvaro Morata. It was only five minutes after regulation time but he insisted: “There’s no point in remembering that. It is done. Sometimes it’s enough to get through the bad times together and we did that today. We must sweep away all the toxic stuff and be positive, more united than ever. No one has ever come a long way in the World Cup without suffering. Other teams should be asked if they would have liked to give a bad impression but succeeded.
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