Spain coach Luis Enrique has explained why he won’t play for a draw in his side’s final World Cup 2022 group game against Japan in a bid to avoid a potential clash with Brazil.
Enrique’s side go into the game on top of Group E but still aren’t assured of a place in the last 16.
If they win the group, they would end up on the side of the draw that would pit them against favourites Brazil in the quarter-finals – should both sides make it that far.
The winners of Spain’s group will face the runners-up from Group F – Morocco, Croatia or Belgium – in the last 16, and Enrique was asked if he had considered playing for second place.
"It's a great question, because we've thought about it too," Enrique told a news conference.
"But imagine we want to finish second, we get to the 90th minute and it's 0-0 in the two games, and in the 95th minute with 15 seconds left, Japan and Costa Rica both score. You gambled, and you're out.
"Or imagine Germany are 5-0 up, we're looking for a draw, and Japan score and we're out.
“When you're convinced that you have a very good team and you want to play seven games [to get to the final], it isn't about finishing second.
“We want to finish first. If we play Brazil in the quarter-finals, great, we'll play Brazil. But we won't count our chickens before they've hatched."
So far in Qatar, Spain have hammered Costa Rica 7-0 and drawn 1-1 with Germany.
They will be wary ahead of their final group clash, as the Japanese earned a stunning win over Germany in their opening game.
'I’d probably pick Cole Palmer alongside Bellingham and Rice in there at the moment. For me, Declan Rice is good enough to play that central midfield role on his own' Thomas Tuchel advised to DROP Manchester City star by England legend
Manchester United staff threatened with sacking for leaked information... in a leaked email
