Luis Enrique “Facing Germany, we will compete the same as today, or even more so”
Luis Enrique Martínez appeared in the press room at the Al-Thumama stadium, satisfied with his players and confident that the match against Costa Rica only had a positive impact on a group of players that are “prepared to do important things” said the coach.. and after such an important win, “which clearly strengthens and encourages all of us” “the head” can play tricks; but Luis Enrique is certain that nobody will let up.
Luis Enrique, aware that “praise weakens” (a phrase he has repeated twice), has indicated that work will be done so that the group is “protected”, something that he is confident will happen: “Facing Germany, we will compete the same as today, or even more so”, he affirmed emphatically.
“I know deep down, because I already know this team, and we will not let up. We are going to try to do the same on the field, we are not going to second guess ourselves for even one second. We want to play all the matches in the same way”, the coach explained.
Luis Enrique is now focusing on the fact that “everything remains to be decided in group E” and that the next game will be played against a German team that “needs to win”. “Today we celebrate the victory, but tomorrow the preparation for the second game begins,” he stressed. A game for which he has hinted that there will be changes: “I have full confidence in all 26 players.”
A good start to break the curse
In relation to the match played against Costa Rica, the coach highlighted that the curse of the World Cup starts has been broken: “Historically, Spain is not a team that begins championships by winning”, but today history has changed because his players have been “far superior in all aspects of the game.”
“I’ve always read that we’re lacking goals, but since we’ve been in charge, we’re one of the teams that have scored the most goals. We may not have a benchmark player who scores 30 goals, but a lot of our players have goals in them. We have reached the goal in an cohesive and collaborative way”, explained Luis Enrique
The coach has highlighted that the most satisfactory points in this World Cup debut from his point of view are: “the control of the entire game from minute one, looking for the midfielders to touch the ball, and take advantage of the spaces to create situations”; and a defense that he has described as “tremendous and remarkable.”