Spain are on the verge of clinching a berth to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after beating Greece 1-0 with a first-half Pablo Sarabia penalty on Thursday night at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.
By virtue of the result in Athens and Georgia’s surprising 2-0 win over Sweden earlier in the day, Spain only need a draw on Sunday in their qualifying finale against Sweden in Seville to punch their ticket to Qatar.
There were many novelties to the starting XI from head coach Luis Enrique, notably with debutant Raul de Tomas up top at forward with Alvaro Morata, while Dani Carvajal and Jose Luis Gaya manned the full-back positions, Inigo Martinez was slotted in at centre-back and Rodri came in for Sergio Busquets in midfield.
The aforementioned De Tomas was presented with the first chance of the night when played in all alone in front of the Greek goal, but the Espanyol man took too long to get control and lost the chance to even get off a clean shot.
Spain continued to pressure the Greek defence and their efforts were rewarded when Inigo Martinez was fouled in the area during a mad scramble. The referee pointed to the spot without hesitation, and after confirmation from VAR, Sarabia confidently converted the spot-kick for a 0-1 lead.
There was another scoring chance prior to intermission, this time for Morata, who received a pass from Gaya but shot right at Greece goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Shortly before the hour mark, Luis Enrique went to his bench for the first time, as Dani Olmo and Rodrigo Moreno came on for Sarabia and De Tomas respectively. Later it was Sergio Busquets on for Gavi and Pablo Fornals for Morata.
Spain had the upper hand but had not fully put the hosts away, making each break for a nervy moment any time the Greeks lurched forward. The late surge from Greece also fired up their supporters for the first time on the night, but Spain did well to keep their heads and were able to see things out to pocket a very valuable three points.
