Spain WC Report Card

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David de Gea 3

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He didn't even have that many saves the entire tournament.

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David de Gea 3

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That he didn't have much to do is correct. However, the 3 is probably fair since that CR7 free kick should not have been so easy had not De Gea set up the wall wrong and allowed the shot to go around it instead of over it.

Two pretty costly amateur errors to make when, like people say, he didn't have much to do otherwise.

That draw forced Spain to win their next two matches and not have the luxury of resting all the players.

They probably should have anyway since that performance yesterday was probably the most lethargic I have ever seen in a WC knockout match.

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Isco 8

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Isco was certainly the (only) active player against Russia -- oddly being on the ball more than twice as much as every other Spanish attacker combined.

However, that also makes him culpable in Spain's resolute refusal to play a ball into any traffic at all toward goal for most of the match.

That approach in general was one of the more perplexing "strategies" I've seen in a while especially considering how toothless Russia were on counters.

You would have thought Spain were playing against a team with a front line of 5 Mohamed Salahs from such an exaggerated reticence to pass near the Russian area.