There was a spectacular crowd at Martiricos, with the stands cheering on the Spanish side, in particular former Malaguista, Isco Alarcón. It was precisely the Arroyo de la Miel-born player who created the first dangerous action for Spain, being the object of a possible penalty in Costa Rica’s area in minute 3. Lopetegui’s team soon scored the opener thanks to an impeccable cross from Jordi Alba (1-0, 6’).
National striker, Álvaro Morata warned of his intentions in 10’ and 11’, with two separate shots at the target. Soon after, the Madrid-born player found the net with a close-range goal (2-0, 23’). The crowd were ecstatic cheering on their team with ‘oles’, and with Isco showing continuous precise technical details. Costa Rica tightened up their attack, and in minute 28 a cross host from Gamboa narrowly missed the goal.
Isco, with a free kick in 35’, forced a save by ‘Tico’ goalkeeper, Carvajal. In 42’, a magical pass from the Benalmádena-born player left Morata unmarked in front of Carvajal, but he didn’t manage to score. At half-time, Spain were 2-0 in the lead.
In the second half, Lopetegui made various changes to refresh all lines. David Silva, following a clearance by the Costa Rica defence, scored the third goal for Spain (3-0, 51’). The player from the Canary Islands soon scored again with a left-footer from the right of the area (4-0, 55’). The Spanish festival thrilled the Málaga crowd, who loved watching this football recital and the goals from ‘La Roja’.
In the 65th minute, Isco received an almighty standing ovation from the crowd, as he was substituted by Asensio. The stands vibrated and cheered on their team. Iniesta, before being substituted by former Blue and Whites’ player, Luis Alberto, tried his luck with a long shot that landed straight in the Central American side’s goal 5-0, 73’).
In the final stages of play, Spain reduced the pace against a clearly inferior opponent. There was nearly a sixth goal in stoppage time, following a play between Thiago and Asensio that was kicked out by Aspas. Borges, for the ‘Ticos’ came close to scoring an honorary goal, but came up against a superb save by Kepa just before the final whistle. A great win for Spain in Málaga in the first of their friendlies on the road to Russia.
Match stats: Spain 5 – Costa Rica 0
Spain - Julen Lopetegui: Kepa; Odriozola, Piqué (Bartra 46’), Sergio Ramos © (Nacho 46’), Jordi Alba; Busquets (Saúl Ñíguez 46’), Thiago, Iniesta (Luis Alberto 74’); Isco (Asensio 65’), Silva and Morata (Iago Aspas 46’).
Costa Rica - Óscar Ramírez: Carvajal; Gamboa, Waston (Gutiérrez 62’), Duarte (González 56’), Calvo, Oviedo (Matarrita 66’); Bolaños (Wallace 60’), Borges ©, Tejeda, Venegas (Rodríguez 75’); Ureña (Ortiz 56’).
Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece). The yellow card was shown to Costa Rica’s Watson (62’).
Goals: 1-0 (6’): Jordi Alba. 2-0 (23’): Morata. 3-0 (51’) Silva. 4-0 (55’): Silva. 5-0 (73’): Iniesta.
Information: La Rosaleda stadium, 29.300 fans. International preparation game for the 2018 Russia World Cup. A minute’s silence was held before kick-off for the deceased international players, Manolo Sanchis and Feliciano Rivilla, as well as charismatic Málaga humourist, Gregorio Sánchez ‘Chiquito de la Calzada’.
(*) See image gallery here
