Spain coach Luis Enrique has explained why he won’t play for a draw in his side’s final World Cup 2022 group game against Japan in a bid to avoid a potential clash with Brazil.
Enrique’s side go into the game on top of Group E but still aren’t assured of a place in the last 16.
If they win the group, they would end up on the side of the draw that would pit them against favourites Brazil in the quarter-finals – should both sides make it that far.
The winners of Spain’s group will face the runners-up from Group F – Morocco, Croatia or Belgium – in the last 16, and Enrique was asked if he had considered playing for second place.
"It's a great question, because we've thought about it too," Enrique told a news conference.
"But imagine we want to finish second, we get to the 90th minute and it's 0-0 in the two games, and in the 95th minute with 15 seconds left, Japan and Costa Rica both score. You gambled, and you're out.
"Or imagine Germany are 5-0 up, we're looking for a draw, and Japan score and we're out.
“When you're convinced that you have a very good team and you want to play seven games [to get to the final], it isn't about finishing second.
“We want to finish first. If we play Brazil in the quarter-finals, great, we'll play Brazil. But we won't count our chickens before they've hatched."
So far in Qatar, Spain have hammered Costa Rica 7-0 and drawn 1-1 with Germany.
They will be wary ahead of their final group clash, as the Japanese earned a stunning win over Germany in their opening game.
