Spain captain Rodri said the team still has room for improvement after their latest 1-0 win over Portugal in the World Cup round of 16.
A tense game in Arlington, Texas, was decided by substitute Mikel Merino’s stoppage-time goal and Cristiano Ronaldo left the field in tears during his final World Cup appearance for Portugal as Spain advanced to Friday’s quarter-finals in Los Angeles.
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Manchester City midfielder Rodri was named MVP of the match after a performance in which he had the most touches (106), completed the most passes (87) and recovered the ball the most (7) of any player on the pitch.
“There is a lot of room for improvement,” Rodri said when asked if Spain were at their best. “Now we need to rest and continue to improve… We are very similar teams, we need the ball and we want to have an identity.
“It’s about the little details, I’ve said this before. The first chance of the whole game (for Merino’s goal) came when we penetrated… We can learn from that in the next games, we need to be sharper because we can do a lot of damage.”
“He may have better days or worse days, but he is the leader of this team, he is exceptional,” coach Luis de la Fuente said when asked about Rodri. “He gives us balance both defensively and offensively. That’s why he’s the best in the world in his position. And we have Martin Subimendi, who’s also second best. That’s how lucky we are. (Rodri’s) questions baffle me.”
Spain had 15 shots on target but created only two clear-cut chances in the match – the first early on for Mikel Oyarzabal and the second for Merino.
“In modern football, in the last third of the game you need to accelerate,” Rodri said. “When we broke through their lines we may have taken an extra touch. You need to quickly turn around and find players in attack. That’s how the goal was scored.”
Spain reached the quarter-finals for the first time since winning their only World Cup title in 2010. La Roja will play either the United States or Belgium on Friday in Inglewood, California.