<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Whatever England can do, Spain can do better… but does thrashing hapless opposition in your opening game really turn anyone into instant World Cup contenders?</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Because while Spain's seven goals against Costa Rica outscored England's six against Iran and was also their biggest ever World Cup win, we surely cannot judge Luis Enrique's side properly until they have faced a meaningful test.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That should come in their next match, on Sunday against a Germany side who will be fighting for their future in this tournament after their shock defeat by Japan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There was still much to savour for Spain and their supporters at Al Thumama Stadium, of course, especially Gavi's delicious volley to make it 5-0, but it was evident from the start that this was a giant mis-match and the scoreline reflected the huge gulf between the two sides.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Costa Rica were the last team to qualify for Qatar, thanks to a play-off victory over New Zealand in June, but barring a huge improvement they look likely to be one of the first teams to be eliminated.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Spain ripped through them far too easily, sometimes straight down the middle of the pitch, and the game was finished as a contest after barely half an hour when Ferran Torres converted a penalty to make it 3-0.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They kept coming forward in waves in the second half and more goals followed even after Enrique made a raft of changes - like England some of their substitutes got involved in the scoring.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Costa Rica were not just outpassed - they managed 241 to 1,043 - they were also outclassed, and failed to muster a single shot at goal. The closest they got to that was four touches in the Spain area, two in each half.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Former England defender Gary Neville saw those sorry statistics as more of a sign of how bad the 2014 quarter-finalists were, rather than how good Spain were.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Well done to Spain they've done their job," Neville said on ITV. "I didn't think Costa Rica could get any worse in the second half but they surpassed their first-half performance. They were hesitant. They were a mess.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I can't just measure Spain at all on that. Costa Rica are the first team in 32 years to not have a shot at goal, that can't happen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"They've had multiple World Cups. There was nothing out there today. I have no idea what's just happened.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Spain keep the ball, we know that, but that is as bad as it gets for a team that has got a lot of experience."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Former England goalkeeper Rob Green added on BBC Radio 5 live: "Spain have been brilliant but I'm tempted to say this game won't tell us a lot about them in this tournament. The strength of the opposition, Costa Rica really haven't made it difficult.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"They made it a walk in the park for Spain. Realistically, the substitutions Spain made in the second half, they were blooding youngsters, resting old legs; Costa Rica knew the game was up."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">'The perfect performance' by Spain</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You could argue, of course, that not allowing your opposition a sight of goal while scoring seven yourself is not to be sniffed at, and Spanish football expert Guillem Balague preferred to focus on the positives for Spain.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Balague told 5 live: "It was just the perfect performance, you could see after three goals Costa Rica had given up.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"But how many shots on target for Costa Rica? Or attempts? Zero. In the World Cup, you don't get these type of performances, the same way you don't get the type of performances England gave against Iran.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We're talking about the same kind of level. They are, at the moment it seems, ahead of the rest."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Should Spain just enjoy a rare good start?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Maybe we are better off not thinking about what the size of this Spain victory means and instead focus on the fact they have, for once, got their World Cup off to a winning start.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They had lost their opening match at their previous three tournaments, including in South Africa 2010 where they went on to win it - and it was clearly unwise to jump to any early conclusions about their prospects back then.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is Germany and Argentina who have been upset this time and, in a tournament that has been full of shock results in its first few days, Spain's young stars like Gavi and Pedri instead sent out a statement of intent that they could be the ones causing some surprises in the coming weeks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Green added: "It's what Spain needed. Coming into this tournament they had a few questions, young players coming in, can they find and come up with answers? Well, it's been a perfect training session for them because that's pretty much what it has been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's not been a contest, it's been a warm up. There will be bigger games to come but if you're getting more than 1,000 passes in a game, then that's an incredible achievement."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Understandably, Spain's players seemed pretty pleased with their performance, as well as the outcome.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dani Olmo, who opened the scoring with what was Spain's 100th World Cup goal, said: "I don't think it was a question of Costa Rica being bad. It was about our team being strong.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I think the win was what we were due. We deserved to win after taking the game to them. I think our team is strong and that is the path that we need to follow. It was a confidence boost for sure."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But managers are rarely satisfied so easily and, just as England boss Gareth Southgate hailed his side's attacking display against Iran but was unhappy at seeing them concede a couple of late goals, Spain boss Enrique called his team "exceptional" - before adding they can do better next time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Our objective is to continuously dominate the play, and for that you have to have the ball," Enrique told TVE.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Your opponent gets tired and can't get into it, our pressing was exceptional and the 16 players we used were superb - although we still have room to improve." BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>