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Rob DawsonReporter
Doha, Qatar — spain Coach Luis Enrique said he had “nothing to celebrate” despite sealing qualification for the knockout rounds of the World Cup and admitted he would have had a “heart attack” if he had known that at one point he were going out
Spain was defeated 2-1 By Japan at the Khalifa International Stadium on Thursday to finish second in Group E.
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But for three minutes into the second half, with Costa Rica Chief Germany 2–1, they were facing an early exit and were only saved by Germany eventually winning 4–2.
Enrique later said in a press conference, “In football you deserve it or not and we didn’t deserve it.”
“I’m not happy at all. I would have liked to be on top and win but Japan scored two goals in five minutes. We were shattered.
“We didn’t threaten in the first half and then at half time I told them to be careful because they had nothing to lose. We fell and they could have scored two more goals. I’m not happy at all. “
“I never celebrate defeat so we have nothing to celebrate. We have qualified but I have nothing to celebrate.”
Enrique claimed in his post-match news conference that he never knew Spain were on the verge of being eliminated and said he was glad the news did not come from another game.
“We got kicked out for three minutes?” Enrique responded when he was told how close Spain had come to annihilation.
“I wasn’t paying attention to the second match, when did it happen? I didn’t know that. I’m not happy because we lost to Japan. If I had known [Spain were going out] I would have had a heart attack.”
Meanwhile, Japan topped Group E in the last-16 ahead of both Spain and Germany Croatia,
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He made a comeback with a goal against Spain, although there was controversy surrounding come on tanakaThe ball was initially ruled out of play in the build-up before the decision was overturned by VAR.
The goal disallowed Germany a place in the knockout rounds and Tanaka admitted it was a close decision.
“From my point of view the ball was clearly half out,” he said.
“More than that I couldn’t say because of the pace. I was worried about scoring but there was always a possibility that it was going to get out.
“I wouldn’t be disappointed if it wasn’t out and it wasn’t a goal but in the end it was a goal so it was great.”
