Alvaro Morata scored his first goal for Spain to give La Roja a 1-nil victory over Ukraine.
The ESPN FC crew assess Spain’s performance against Ukraine and if it’s good enough for the European Championship.
Alvaro Morata got the only goal, and fellow youngster Isco impressed, but Spain’s 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win over Ukraine on Friday night did not exactly suggest a bright new dawn for La Roja.
The game began as Spain coach Vicente del Bosque presumably hoped, with his bet to play the emerging star duo in central attacking roles paying off. Juventus centre-forward Morata’s clever movement was causing the visiting defence plenty of problems, while Madrid playmaker Isco was revelling in a No. 10 role just behind his former Los Blancos teammate.
Twice inside the opening stages Morata made promising runs off the shoulder of the last defender into dangerous positions. The first half-chance saw a low cross-shot sent just wide, while the second was less impressive, with the striker miscontrolling the ball and then appeared to go down very easily looking for a penalty.
That route brought Spain the opening goal just past the half-hour mark. Koke’s clever one-touch pass sent Morata free behind the defence, and he held off his marker well and then got a stroke of good fortune when his finish deflected up and over prone Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov.
This was Morata’s first senior goal for Spain, in his third appearance, and first competitive start. The former Madrid youth teamer had long been expected to make a big splash at the top level, having scored 32 times in total at various underage levels, including 13 in 13 games for the under-21s.
There was also a lot of focus in the build-up among local pundits with the 22-year-old taking the No. 7 shirt, previously worn by Spain’s top two international goal scorers: Raul and current incumbent David Villa. The first senior goal seemed to point toward him, not Chelsea’s currently injured Diego Costa, as the future La Roja centre-forward.
There was plenty of other promise in the first half as Del Bosque played his 38th different starting XI in his last 38 games, and other emerging international names played well. Koke’s first-time pass behind the defence for Morata’s opener showed the directness he brings to what can be an overly lateral midfield. The Atletico Madrid player also had Spain’s first shot of the night, a 25-yard piledriver tipped over by Pyatov.
Isco, who along with Morata and Koke was a member of Spain’s European U-21 champion team in 2013, was also entertaining the crowd at Sevilla’s Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan. A number of lovely touches, including one moment in particular when he escaped two markers with a Zinedine Zidane-style roulette turn, especially stood out during the opening period.
However, the second half was not so good. Morata was withdrawn around the hour mark, with his influence on the game waning, and said on TVE afterwards that he was far from completely happy with his performance.
“It was good to score, hopefully I can keep getting games,” the goal scorer said. “It was not my best game, I must keep working to get back here. It was not easy to play today, the opponent defended well, and were very aggressive.”
Isco remained on the pitch, and was one of the main players trying to lift the team when they fell into a slump. That the 22-year-old was needed to take on such a leadership role was not a good sign for Del Bosque’s side. In his 103rd cap Andres Iniesta was superb in the first half when Spain were on top, but faded out of things after the break as Ukraine began to press and look for an equaliser.
It was almost handed to the visitors when veteran goalkeeper Iker Casillas (playing in his 100th competitive game for Spain) made a poor clearance that gave Ukrainian midfielder Ruslan Rotan the ball unmarked 30 yards out. Casillas was fortunate to get away with that, and also when Rotan again finished poorly when the home defence was cut apart down the left by impressive winger Yevhen Konoplyanka.
Alvaro Morata’s first goal for the senior side was all Spain would need to see off Ukraine on Friday night.
Spain defender Sergio Ramos and substitute Santi Cazorla might have made it 2-0, but in the end the defending European champions were calling for the final whistle as Ukraine hit balls into their box in injury time. Spain’s past ability to defend a 1-0 lead by keeping possession, and killing all belief in a comeback among exhausted opponents, was not in evidence. This was a clear sign that Del Bosque still has plenty of work to do in blending together his newer players and old guard.
The 2012 winners have won both their last three Group C matches — scoring eight times without conceding — since their shock 2-1 defeat away to Slovakia in their second outing in the section. Clear in second spot now, and with their next qualifier in Belarus on June 14, Spain should really be assured of making the top two. But they still do not look convincing, and the Slovak’s 3-0 home win over Luxembourg keeps them top of the table with a 100 percent record.
More pressingly, there is now the little matter of a friendly in Amsterdam on Tuesday night, a first meeting with the Netherlands since their 5-1 hammering at last summer’s World Cup. Spain will be playing for pride in that game, but do not look ready yet to hand out any real revenge against the Dutch.
Tuesday’s game should see more new faces getting playing time; Manchester United’s David De Gea in goal for Casillas is likely, and Bayern Munich’s Juan Bernat seems sure to start at left-back given Jordi Alba limped off late.
Del Bosque’s side remain set for France 2016, where youngsters like Morata and Isco will surely figure, but there remains plenty of work still to be done if Spain are to think about retaining their place atop the European game.
Dermot Corrigan is a Madrid-based football writer who covers La Liga and the Spain national team for ESPN FC. Twitter @dermotmcorrigan.