Spain’s World Cup nightmare: Cape Verde draw echoes Morocco trauma

The surprising draw conceded against Cape Verde immediately places Luis de la Fuente under unprecedented pressure. This modest selection, ranked 67th by FIFA, ultimately gave meaning to the heavily criticized expansion of the tournament desired by Gianni Infantino. This inaugural stumble complicates the competition for the coach, who threw his tie to the ground in frustration. The Spanish team must absolutely correct course in the next match against Saudi Arabia, a formidable opponent as Lionel Messi had once learned at his own expense.

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On the pitch, the sterile play practiced by the Iberian side revived the trauma of previous World Cups, awakening the ghosts of eliminations against host nation Russia or against Morocco in Qatar. The team sank into ball possession pushed to the absurd, compared to a "windshield wiper" movement. The desperate introduction of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, despite being absent from the initial match plan, acted as a true admission of weakness for a squad supposed to be lethal in its transitions.

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This underperformance mainly illustrates the serious physical deficit of the group that won the Euro two years ago. As El Mundo analyzes, the coach took the risk of relying on key players returning from injury or at the end of irregular seasons, thinking to benefit from an opening schedule deemed manageable to get them back in shape. This theoretical gamble collapsed on the pitch, like a particularly slow Rodri, a struggling Laporte, or a completely ineffective Gavi on the left flank.