Spain were held to a 1-1 draw against Greece in the World Cup qualifiers tonight. Luis Enrique fielded a young Spain side, but will be disappointed with the result.
The Spanish side were from favourites heading into the game but Greece managed to defend admirably and hold the home side to a draw.
Alvaro Morata scored for Spain in the first half and he is now the third top scorer for the Spanish national team in the World Cup qualifiers behind David Villa and Fernando Torres.
Spain came into this game without having conceded a single goal at home in seven matches and they will be disappointed to have conceded a penalty in the second half. Inigo Martinez conceded a penalty for a rash tackle on Greek midfielder Giorgos Masouras and Anastasios Bakasetas converted from the spot.
The home side enjoyed more than 80% ball possession and completed around 849 passes. Despite having the ball for most of the game, Spain failed to create any meaningful chances and they managed just two shots on target throughout the game.
Enrique chose to rest the likes of Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets for this game and his side lacked in craft and imagination at the heart of their midfield.
Spain must ensure that they start their key players in the next game when they take on Georgia on Sunday. Tonight’s draw leaves Spain third in Group B behind Sweden and Greece in the table.
Line-Ups
Spain
Unai Simón, Sergio Ramos (Inigo Martinez), Eric Garcia, Rodri, Jose Gaya, Marcos Llorente, Sergio Canales (Bryan Gil Salvatierra), Koke (Thiago), Dani Olmo (Pedri), Ferrán Torres (Mikel Oyarzabal), Álvaro Morata.
Substitutes
David de Gea, Robert Sanchez, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Diego Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Pedro Porro.
Greece
Odisseas Vlachodimos, Giorgos Tzavellas, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Zeca, Konstantinos Tsimikas, Michalis Bakakis, Petros Mantalos (Christos Tzolis), Andreas Bouchalakis, Georgios Masouras (Kostas Fortounis), Dimitrios Limnios (Manolis Siopis), Anastasios Bakasetas.
Substitutes
Stefanos Kapino, Charalampos Mavrias, Sokratis Dioudis, Georgios Kyriakopoulos, Vangelis Pavlidis, Stratos Svarnas, Georgios Giakoumakis, Thanasis Androutsos, Konstantinos Mavropanos.
