South Korea face Spain tonight at Lansdowne Stadium in a last desperate attempt for both sides to grab an ever desired round of 16 spot.
Lack of conviction from an inexperienced Spanish side has forced an uncertain last group game.
Their previous two group stage performances have seen domination but no final execution, leaving them now having to fight to stay competing on the world’s biggest stage.
Both Spain and South Korea sit on one point each but can still achieve their goal of automatic qualification with a win tonight, providing Costa Rica draw or lose in their clash against Brazil.
All to play for in the final group game
However, with similar records in the group stages, a win for either team will be easier said than done. Both Spain and South Korea fell short to leaders Brazil and were both forced to share the points in their clashes with Costa Rica, hinting this will be a very evenly matched encounter.
What they said
Spanish head coach, Ignacio Quereda, still believes his team will be the ones joining Brazil. He explained in his last post match press conference that it is all still to play for:
“The game against Brazil was very intense and balanced but once again we weren’t able to finalise our place. We arrived on goal three or four times, but we just needed to finish better.
"We will not lose our hope. We will keep working and we have the positive attitude to believe we can do it. We will keep fighting until the end.
"After two matches we only have one point, we have no luck whatsoever when it comes to scoring but I do hope everything will change in the third game and that we go ahead to the next stage.
"If we keep playing the way we are playing results will come.”
Yoon Deok-yeo also spoke about the game in his press conference. He admitted that it’s not going to be easy to break down an impressive Spanish side:
“The point against Costa Rica could be a decisive factor, however it is not the three points that we wanted which makes our next game a lot harder. I hope my players will recover soon and gain their morale back.
"I think Spain are a great team. They had a very good game against Brazil and I think we need to watch out for a couple of key players. They are structured and organised so we need to prepare. We need to pull everything together if we want to win.”
South Korea and Spain must rely on other results
If Spain are to salvage anything from this campaign, they must start to convert the chances that they create, which will more than likely mean Verónica Boquete and Marta Corredera will be pushed higher than usual in an attempt to grab an early goal.
If they fail to take the chances, Spain will be vunerable to counter attacks and with such a prolific forward line up, South Korea will without doubt take advantage. Chelsea’s Ji So-yun will be the one to watch as she has been dubbed as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world.
Group E has seen Brazil comfortably dominate. Strolling through the first two games without conceding, they sit top with six points and have securely booked their place in the last 16.
This however, could trigger Brazil’s head coach Vadão to rest some of his key players in preparation for the knock out stages; potentially giving Costa Rica an easier time and therefore Spain with a lot more work to do.
But regardless of the outcome of that decisive game, it will be Spain who are expected to take something away from the clash tonight against South Korea. Sitting 14th in the World Rankings compared to South Korea’s 18th position, and with two impressive performances under their belt, it is surely a matter of time before they achieve their first World Cup win.