MX23RW : Wednesday, June 12 15:52:31| >> :600:431425:431425:
[monks data]
Attendance: 33,116
Spain national football team
International Friendlies
Jun 9, 2018 at 7.45pm UK
 
Tunisia national football team

1-0

Aspas (84')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Late Iago Aspas strike helps Spain floor Tunisia

Aspas strike helps Spain floor Tunisia
© Reuters
A late goal from Celta Vigo's Iago Aspas helps Spain to a 1-0 win over Tunisia in their final World Cup warm-up game.

England's World Cup opponents Tunisia have capped off their preparations for the tournament with a 1-0 defeat to Spain in a close friendly international at Krasnodar Stadium.

Julen Lopetegui's side left it late to make a breakthrough, with Celta Vigo forward Iago Aspas coming off the bench to net the decisive strike four minutes from time.

The Spanish saw more of the ball in the opening stages but it was their opponents who almost drew first blood in the 12th minute as Anice Badri's ball into the box caught their defence off guard, allowing Ferjani Sassi to get a shot away, which flew into the arms of David De Gea.

End-to-end action followed, with Naim Sliti shooting over in the 19th minute and Sergio Ramos trying his luck from range moments later, finding only the stand behind the goal.

Tunisia missed a sitter just after the half-hour mark as Badri's dangerous cross found Sliti unmarked at the far post, but the Lille midfielder put too much on his strike and skewed it off target.

Spain found their rhythm in the second period but Tunisia restricted them to long-range efforts for much of it, one of which came from Jordi Alba shortly after the restart as he blazed the ball over the crossbar.

Manchester City's David Silva was next to try his luck for the Spaniards, collecting a pass from Ramos before unleashing a curling effort that dipped just wide of the mark with one hour played.

Tunisia gave as good as they got throughout the match but Spain's finishing let them down for much of the duration, and Real Madrid striker Marco Asensio joined a long list of their players who failed to find the target in the 75th minute when he prodded a cut-back wide from inside the box.

Spain's winner came in the 84th minute after Diego Costa danced into the penalty area before squaring a pass to Aspas, who made the net ripple with a screamer from 12 yards out.

Aspas's strike proved the last meaningful chance for either side as Spain saw out the match to end their World Cup preparations on a positive note.

Lopetegui's men face Portugal, Iran and Morocco in the group stage at the finals, while Tunisia are up against Panama and Belgium as well as England.

SPAIN (4-5-1): De Gea; Alba (Aspas 76'), Odriozola, Pique, Ramos; Iniesta, Alcantara (Koke 45'), Busquets, Silva (Asensio 60), Isco (Vazquez 45'); Moreno (Costa 60')

TUNISIA (4-3-3): Mathlouthi; Meriah, Maaloul (Haddadi 58'), Bronn, S. Ben Youssef (Srarfi 91'); Sassi, Skhiri, Khaoui (Ben Amor 62'); Badri (Benalouane 78'), F. Ben Youssef, Sliti (Khalifa 69')

ID:327974: cacheID:327974:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4834:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
David de Gea in action for Manchester United in the FA Cup on April 21, 2018
Read Next:
Del Bosque hails "complete keeper" De Gea
>
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Friday, June 14
 
8pm
Saturday, June 15
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Sunday, June 16
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Monday, June 17
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, June 18
 
5pm
Wednesday, June 19
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Thursday, June 20
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Group Stage
Spain
vs.
Italy
Friday, June 21
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Saturday, June 22
 
5pm
 
8pm
Sunday, June 23
 
8pm
 
8pm
Monday, June 24
 
8pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, June 25
 
5pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
 
8pm
Wednesday, June 26
 
5pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
 
8pm
Saturday, June 29
Sunday, June 30
Monday, July 1
Tuesday, July 2
Friday, July 5
Saturday, July 6
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Germany Germany00000
2 Hungary Hungary00000
3 Scotland flag Scotland00000
4 Switzerland Switzerland00000

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Albania national flag Albania00000
2 Croatia Croatia00000
3 Italy Italy00000
4 Spain Spain00000

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Denmark Denmark00000
2 England flag England00000
3 Serbia Serbia00000
4 Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Austria Austria00000
2 France France00000
3 Netherlands Netherlands00000
4 Poland Poland00000

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Belgium Belgium00000
2 Romania Romania00000
3 Slovakia Slovakia00000
4 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Portugal Portugal00000
4 Turkey Turkey00000


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!