Diego Costa - Spain's "golden boy"
(Baonghean.vn) - Striker Diego Costa has scored 2 goals for the Spanish national team. It is worth mentioning that in both of those goals, luck was on the side of this aggressive striker.
Elbow and scoring
Surrounded by Portuguese players, Diego Costa turned brilliantly to equalise for Spain. But slow-motion replays showed that the striker appeared to have elbowed Pepe in the chin and the video assistant referee (VAR) missed it.
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| Diego Costa swung his arm at Pepe before scoring the equalizer for Spain. Photo: AFP |
In an aerial dispute with Pepe, after the ball was passed long from home, Diego Costa swung his arm into the Portuguese defender's face, causing Pepe to fall to the ground.
If the referee had blown the whistle in this situation, Costa would not have been able to continue to escape, turn around and shoot past goalkeeper Rui Patricio to equalize for the Spanish team in the 24th minute. Despite the reaction from the Portuguese players, the main referee still did not use VAR technology. How lucky for Diego Costa!
The ball hits the defender.Iran
After a 3-3 draw with Portugal, coach Fernando Hierro is determined to earn all 3 points when facing Iran. Especially when Dani Carvajal returned from injury, Lucas Vazquez was put on the field from the start, as coach Fernando Hierro hopes to quickly break down Iran's defense.
But the Bulls were truly helpless against the 3-layer concrete defense system of coach Carlos Queiros. The West Asian team did not hide their intention to earn 1 point, so they had 10 players participating in the defense. Spain had 73% of the ball possession, shot 10 times, while Iran only fired 2 random shots towards De Gea's goal.
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| Diego Costa scored a lucky goal when Iranian defender Ramin Rezaeian cleared the ball and it bounced straight into the net. Photo: AFP |
In that context, Diego Costa scored a lucky goal in the second half when Iranian defender Ramin Rezaeian cleared the ball and it bounced off his foot into the net, bringing the Spanish team 3 points. With nothing left to lose, the Iranian players rushed to attack and they created many scoring opportunities.
In the 62nd minute, Iran celebrated when the ball went into De Gea's net but after consulting VAR, the referee denied Ezatolahi's goal for offside. It seems that luck is on Diego Costa's side!
With this victory, Spain shares the top spot with Portugal with 4 points and a 4-3 goal difference; Iran is in 3rd place with 3 points and a 1-1 goal difference; and Morocco has been eliminated with 0 points and a 0-2 goal difference.
Obviously, Diego Costa and his teammates have an advantage because in the last match they only played against Morocco, the eliminated football team, while if Iran wins against Portugal, they will advance to the next round.
Coach Fernando Hierro only took over the Spanish team 48 hours before the match started but he already has a “youngster” in Diego Costa. The striker’s two golden goals are helping the Spanish team make their next plans.
