Spain's crushing victory over Costa Rica must have given former All Whites coach Danny Hay (R) much to ponder. Photos / AP, Photosport
Spain's crushing victory over Costa Rica must have given former All Whites coach Danny Hay (R) much to ponder. Photos / AP, Photosport
OPINION:
Whisper it quietly but perhaps Andrew Pragnell had a point.
In the aftermath of Danny Hay’s departure as All Whites coach, the New Zealand Football chief executive indicated the national side had underperformed by failing to beat Costa Rica in their World Cup intercontinental playoff, missing out on the finals in Qatar.
“If you look at Costa Rica and where it is at now, it’s a team that a lot of people would say is past its prime,” said Pragnell. “I certainly thought we had the ability and talent to get to the World Cup.”
The All Whites produced a good performance in their 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica in June. Outplaying a non-Oceania nation so comprehensively is an almost unprecedented occurrence for the All Whites.
Costa Rica loomed as formidable playoff opponents, having been a penalty shootout away from making the World Cup semifinals after wins over Italy and Uruguay in 2014 and still good enough to draw with Switzerland and hold off Brazil until injury time in 2018.
But after the Central Americans were humiliated 7-0 by Spain in their World Cup opener yesterday, perhaps the All Whites’ performance was not as good as initially thought.
When referee Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed blew for the start of the Spain-Costa Rica game, did he spare a thought for the All Whites? After all, he was the man whose controversial decision to disallow Chris Wood’s equaliser in the playoff played in significant part in denying them a place in Qatar.
But if there was a possible consolation from a New Zealand perspective, it was that at least the All Whites weren’t getting hammered on football’s biggest stage.
The only time the teams met, at the 2009 Confederations Cup, Spain won 5-0 after racing to a four-goal lead inside 24 minutes.
But All Whites fans could reasonably expect the current side to do better than both their 2009 contemporaries and their 2022 Costa Rican adversaries.
For starters, Wood would have provided a far better outlet up front than anyone Costa Rica fielded, particularly the ponderous Joel Campbell.
Yesterday’s match was over as a contest when Spain went 3-0 up after barely half an hour. Only once had Spain scored three goals more quickly at a World Cup - and that was in 1934.
This was like watching Muhammad Ali in his pre-ban prime, when opponents could barely lay a glove on him, much less a knockout blow.
The most menacing moment Costa Rica managed came when Kendall Watson squashed Koke when contesting a free kick in the Spanish penalty area. Gavi squared up to the giant Costa Rican centre back, who towered over him looking for all the world like a heavyweight boxer.
Perhaps Gavi was feeling emboldened, having four minutes earlier scored Spain’s fifth with a superb outside-of-the-foot volley in off the post. That made the 18-year-old the youngest scorer at the World Cup finals since a 17-year-old Pele in 1958. This was a match which saw multiple notable milestones marked.
When Spain scored their sixth goal in the 90th minute, the Costa Ricans must have been further dispirited to see the fourth official displaying eight minutes of injury time on his board.
Matches have dragged on for longer than usual at this World Cup but perhaps Costa Rica’s injured pride was taken into account, in which case eight minutes was generous.
Two minutes later, Spain netted again for a final score of 7-0 - their biggest victory in 64 World Cup games and Costa Rica’s equal worst defeat in any game.
Spain's Marcos Asensio celebrates after scoring his side's second goal against Costa Rica. Photo / AP
Costa Rica did not manage a shot, on or off target, the entire match - a first for any team at the World Cup for 32 years. Coincidentally, Costa Rica were also the last side to achieve the unwanted feat when they failed to create any chances in a 1-0 loss to Brazil.
But the 1990 Costa Ricans also beat Scotland and Sweden to qualify for the last 16. Based on the evidence against Spain, the 2022 Costa Ricans will struggle to notch a goal, much less a point, in their remaining games against Japan and Germany.
And if the 7-0 shellacking is followed by two more dismal defeats, Pragnell’s assessment will echo ever louder.
