Oyarzabal dodges the abyss – AS.com

Asensio and Oyarzabal rescued Spain when it stuck its head over the cliff. La Roja was choked on a match in which he dominated from start to finish, with an Australia that he can remember without making too much mental effort every time he left his area, because he did little and badly. De la Fuente's men crashed again and again before the Australian wall until Asensio's exquisite left-foot and Oyarzabal's head avoided a dramatic situation.

Before reaching that outcome, as expected, From the Source he took out the shaker. It was expected that some heavyweight would fall, although it was difficult to imagine it in such a radical way: he sent Merino to the stands and Asensio, to the bench. Two of the three with whom he occupied the places of over 24 years were left out on the decisive day. The coach has never shaken his pulse when making his lineups. Trust in both is full, no anger or punishment. With these decisions, the coach always seeks to motivate the troop. He succeeded once again: Asensio went from being singled out at the beginning of the match to being a hero at the end.

Spain was slow to enter the game. The first ten minutes he repeated the lack of ideas of the premiere, although this time it took little time to shake his nerves. The appearance of two men who must take a step forward while recovering was key Ceballos: Pedri and Dani Olmo. The one from Barça began to find his place between the lines (he filtered a fantastic pass to Soler that almost left him alone in front of the goalkeeper) and Olmo dislodged the rival defense with his mobility.

Soon the clearest occasion of the first act arrived: a good pass from Puado ended with a left-footed shot from Oyarzabal to the crossbar. That opportunity released Spain, which accumulated dangerous arrivals without aim. The two decades without scoring in a Games began to weigh too much and the National Team went to the booth in the intermission frustrated by not being able to open the can against such an inferior rival.

In the second half, Dani Olmo went into stellar mode, reminiscent of his exhibition against Italy. Pedri continued intoned, Oyarzabal began to participate more and more and the entrance of Bryan was good for Spain. With the incorporation of Asensio, the game improved even more but desperation remained: the only ingredient that was missing to complete the recipe was the most important, the goal.

In 1980, Asensio uncovered all the class that he has in that left-hander who wants him to be golden again in Tokyo. He put in a magnificent cross that Oyarzabal only had to stroke to finish inside the goal. A goal that must be scored before and after for La Roja in this tournament. These three points are oxygen: with a draw against Argentina on Wednesday Spain will mathematically be in the quarterfinals.