Lamine Yamal, the cheeky teenager who has smashed his way into the world of top level football, was the first to make the difference in the Spanish national team's goal fest. Still young enough to be more used to taking exams and going end-of-term trips, his timing was perfect to arrive in the right place to put Spain ahead during the early stages of a game that Spain took control of right from the outset. After a great team move, the Barça winger picked up the ball in the box and with a couple faints and lovely touches to make space for himself and get the ball out of his feet he fired home with a calmness unbefitting of a 16-year-old, making the score at 0-1 with the game still in its infancy.

Jesús Navas started the match to earn his 50th cap for the Spanish national team.

From then on it was all one-way traffic. Spain piled the pressure on the Cypriot goalkeeper, who often could only watch as Luis de la Fuente's team stopped his side even getting out of their area. Great play on the right and on the left, probing crosses and combination play through the centre all made for a dizzying first half hour and Spain scored three goals that could easily have been more.

Mikel Oyarzabal poked home the second to make it 0-2 after a VAR review overturned an initial offside flag and shortly afterwards Joselu made it 3-0 with a great finish from a corner. Far from taking the result for granted, Spain kept looking hungry and pushing for more goals.  With the Limassol Arena nearly at capacity, the home fans were left to hope for a consolation goal and to enjoy the Spanish performance.

Cyprus were rewarded for their persistence in the 75th minute when they scored their goal, which was celebrated by the home crowd like a victory in itself. Pileas's goal made up for a result that Spain could have become even more one sided in the second half, but the national team lacked a bit of urgency and did not further trouble the scorers. It was a comfortable performance by Spain on a day when they showed both their brilliance and resilience. Combining traditional Spanish passing play with flashes of brilliance on the ball, Spain were able to win in Cyprus and move a step closer to the top spot in the group, which they will be able to secure against Georgia.

What's more, three of the four players who could have made their debuts did so during the match, with Grimaldo starting, Riquelme came on for Oyarzabal - who was injured before the break - and Aleix Garcia came on after the restart. Only Real Sociedad goalkeeper Remiro, who may get the chance to make his international debut next Sunday in Valladolid in the final game of the year, is still to do so.

Grimaldo, Aleix García and Rodrigo Riquelme join the list of debutants for the Spanish national team.

All in all, plain sailing for a Spain side that excites with the way they move the ball and scores freely. With the match against Georgia next Sunday still to come, and with their homework more than done, the national team couldn´t be closer to qualification for next summer's European Championship in Germany.