Spain fears "curse" of losing to Russia tonight
The Spanish fear that the "curse" of facing home teams will cause them to once again regret and leave the game early in the 1/8 round match of the 2018 World Cup against Russia at 9 p.m. tonight, July 1.
Despite not playing convincingly, Spain still tops Group B with 5 points, thanks to a better goal difference than Portugal. That means La Roja will meet host Russia in the round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup.
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| De Gea has failed to inspire confidence after three group stage matches. However, he will still start in the match against Russia. |
In addition to their performance on the field that worries the country's media and fans, Hierro and his team also face... a worrying obstacle: the World Cup curse of facing the host team!
Tonight's match against Russia at the Luzhniki Stadium will be the fourth time Spain have faced home teams, having lost all three before!
Captain Hierro today is also the one who was in the squad of the bulls that lost 3-5 to South Korea on penalties in the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup, with controversy about the referee.
Furthermore, Spain lost to hosts Italy in the quarter-finals in 1934. Then in 1950, the team also lost to Brazil with a forgettable score of 1-6.
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| Captain Hierro hopes to erase the "losing curse" for his team. |
Now it's Russia up front, an opponent whose group stage performance was even more impressive than Spain's, having secured their ticket early after two wins (5-0 against Saudi Arabia and 3-1 against Egypt), before losing 0-3 to Urguay in the final match for first and second place in the group.
Meanwhile, Spain drew 3-3 with Portugal, then narrowly beat Iran 1-0 and had to wait until the last minute to officially qualify thanks to VAR recognizing Iago Aspas' goal (2-2 draw with Morocco).
Hierro admitted that Spain needed to improve to face Russia, a team with a relaxed spirit and a large fan base in the stands. Now in his position as coach, the former player hopes to erase Spain's "curse" of losing to the host.
