The foundation of that defensive strength starts with Unai Simon.
The Spanish shot-stopper continues to set new landmarks as he stretched his clean sheet streak at the World Cup to a historic 609 minutes, keeping Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates off the scoreboard in Dallas.
“Portugal controlled large portions of the match, but Rafael Leao failed to provide that extra burst of creativity, and the other substitutes didn’t either,” stated Balague.
“Spain defended in a compact block and worked hard to get back. They resolved individual battles on their own. As a result, we haven’t required a miraculous stop from Simon.”
At this tournament, Simon has moved past Walter Zenga’s record of 517 consecutive minutes without conceding for Italy, as well as the previous standard of 476 set by his fellow Spaniard Iker Casillas.
Operating in front of Simon, Aymeric Laporte and Pau Cubarsi form the core of the backline, while Pedro Porro and Marc Cucurella supply attacking width from the full-back positions.
That defensive quartet has been selected for three of Spain’s five outings at this World Cup thus far, with Marcos Llorente stepping in for Porro on the right side of defence in the other two.
Balague went on to say: “It’s also a big help that Rodri is approaching his peak form and has delivered two outstanding performances – he acts as the team’s guiding light.
“The combination of Laporte and Cubarsi is ideally suited to Spain’s style – circulating possession, pushing forward with the ball, and defending with plenty of space behind them.”
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