Spain coach Luis Enrique has expressed his frustration at his team’s 2-1 loss to Japan in their final World Cup group stage game, despite the fact that the team secured progression to the Round of 16.
“In football, you deserve it or not and we didn’t deserve it,” Enrique stated during the post-match press conference. “I’m not happy at all. I would have liked to be on top and win but in five minutes Japan scored two. We were dismantled. I never celebrate defeats so we have nothing to celebrate. We have qualified but I have nothing to celebrate.”
Upon hearing that Spain was eliminated from the competition for three minutes when fellow group members Costa Rica took a 2-1 lead against Germany, Enrique responded that he would have had a “heart attack” had he found out during the game.
While Spain took the lead through an Alvaro Morata header in the 11th minute, Japan stunned the favorite at the start of the second half, drawing level in the 48th minute through a Ritsu Doan screamer before Ao Tanaka snatched the winner three minutes later.
