DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Not since Pelé in 1958 had somebody as younger as Gavi scored a objective on the World Cup.The 18-year-old midfielder led the way in which Wednesday as Spain pulled off the largest World Cup victory in its historical past, routing Costa Rica 7-0.“I might by no means have imagined it,” mentioned Gavi, who was named the sport’s most useful participant. “I do know I’m the youngest within the group and I respect everybody, however on the sector it’s totally different and I deliver out my finest.”Pelé scored two objectives within the 1958 ultimate, when Brazil received its first World Cup by beating Sweden 5-2.“I’m proud to be in that podium,” he mentioned. “Not even in my goals I had imagined this.”Gavi solely managed to attain one objective on Wednesday, however his teammates added loads of others.Not lengthy after Japan stunned Germany 2-1 within the different Group E match, Spain’s younger squad prevented any probability of an upset with Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio and Ferran Torres scoring a objective every within the first half. Torres, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Álvaro Morata added to the lead within the second half.Along with Gavi’s mark, Olmo’s objective was the one centesimal at World Cups for “La Roja,” which turned the sixth nation to attain greater than 100 instances within the match.It was the primary time Spain scored seven objectives in a World Cup match, and the primary time a group accomplished 1,000 passes in a 90-minute recreation on the match.“Our solely objective is to regulate the sport constantly, and to do this it’s essential have the ball,” Spain coach Luis Enrique mentioned.With Gavi and 19-year-old Pedri beginning, Spain additionally turned the primary European nation with two youngsters within the beginning lineup of a World Cup match in 60 years, in keeping with statistics platform Opta.Gavi and Pedri had been among the many many kids picked by Luis Enrique in a revamped squad in Qatar — the third-youngest group among the many 32 nations, after the US and Ghana.The younger duo helped Spain management the tempo of the match from the beginning at Al Thumama Stadium. The 22-year-old Torres, who’s relationship the daughter of coach Luis Enrique, scored his first World Cup objective from the penalty spot within the thirty first minute. The others got here throughout the run of play.“When issues go your method like this, soccer turns into great,” Luis Enrique mentioned. “We performed exceptionally effectively with and with out the ball.” Costa Rica seemed overwhelmed all through the sport in its third straight World Cup marketing campaign, failing to even get a single try on objective. The group got here to Qatar hoping to repeat its shock run to the quarterfinals in 2014 in Brazil, and keep away from a repeat of its winless exhibiting 4 years in the past in Russia.“We didn’t maintain on to the possession as we should always have performed it,” Costa Rica coach Luis Fernando Suárez mentioned. “We couldn’t full three or 4 passes.”Spanish gamers made it look straightforward with the ball on their ft, ending the match with 72% of possession.Spain, which didn’t get previous the spherical of 16 in Russia, is attempting to interrupt by way of with a serious title after making it to the ultimate of the Nations League and the semifinals of final 12 months’s European Championship. This 12 months the group additionally certified for the Last 4 of the Nations League for a second straight time. Spain’s final main triumph got here at Euro 2012, two years after it received its lone World Cup title in South Africa.Solely 5 international locations have scored extra objectives than Spain on the World Cup — Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Italy and France.Spain subsequent faces four-time World Cup champion Germany on Sunday in one of the vital anticipated matches of the World Cup.______Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni
Teen Gavi leads Spain to 7-0 rout of Costa Rica at World Cup
