Spain had to do it the hard way as the European giants huffed and puffed their way to a slender 1-0 win over Iran. After Portugal’s victory over Morocco, Spain had to respond with a similar result to keep their hopes alive. La Roja did the job in the end but could not deliver a satisfying performance.
Iran on the other hand defended magnificently and kept this Spanish elite attacking unit under wraps for the majority of the game. Costa’s goal was a fortuitous one, as a messy attack in the Iranian box led the ball to bounce back off him into the back of the net.
Best – Diego Costa (Spain)
The hot-headed striker seemed to be on the verge of losing it on numerous occasions in the first half. He stepped on the Iranian goalkeeper and was agitated by the referee. He also got in a tense clash with Beiranvand. It may have been due to the fact that Costa was hardly involved in anything meaningful in the first half.
Spain enjoyed more than 75 percent of the possession but were unable to break down a six-man Iranian back-line. All of their neat, one-touch passing were not helping them to find a breakthrough. Then came a moment of which Diego Costa is the master.
Worst – Lucas Vazquez (Spain)
Drafted into the side after the 3-3 draw against Portugal, Vazquez was specifically given the role of stretching the Iranian defence on the right flank. Spain knew that Iran would apply a low block and Fernando Hierro hence went in for a traditional winger in Lucas Vazquez to help his side out on the right side.
Spain hoped to get Vazquez wide out which would then give their army of creative midfielders avenue to utilize space left behind by the covering defenders. But Vazquez did nothing of that sort.
Best – Ramin Rezaeian (Iran)
It can be said that out of all the Iranian defenders, Ramin Rezaeian had the toughest job of them all. Stationed at right back, Rezaeian had his hands full with Jordi Alba rampaging on that flank along with Isco, David Silva and Andres Iniesta taking turns to use the width in creating chances.
Worst – Jordi Alba (Spain)
After a good game against Portugal, Spain needed another solid outing from their experienced left back. But Alba looked out of sorts from the word go and was not able to offer anything to his side.
Defensively, he was caught out by Taremi in the opening stages and offensively Alba could not make his overlapping runs due to a deep-lying Iranian defence. With Lucas Vazquez struggling on the right, Spain needed Alba to fire, but the Barcelona man was just not up to the task.