Alvaro Morata promises that Spain won’t be taking their World Cup chances for granted when they take on Japan on Thursday.
This comes after a 1-1 draw with Germany.
On Sunday at Al Bayt Stadium, Morata scored his second goal of the competition after coming off the bench to give Spain the lead. However, Germany’s substitute Niclas Fullkrug scored a late equalizer to earn his team a point.
Spain, who is currently in first place in Group E, merely needs a point against Japan on Thursday to advance, while Germany must defeat Costa Rica and hope Luis Enrique’s team can help them out.
Striker Morata stressed there is no chance Spain will take Japan lightly at Khalifa International Stadium.
“Japan is a tough team, they run a lot, they are good tactically. It’s another tough game, it’s a World Cup.” he said.
The Atletico Madrid frontman says he has no problem with being among the substitutes again after also finding the back of the net in a 7-0 rout of Costa Rica.
“We are on the bench for this [to score]. Germany are a great team, this match could have been a semi-final or final in the World Cup,” he said.
“It’s the same [starting of being a substitute], the most important thing is to win. They scored an amazing goal, so we didn’t have the victory, but we keep training and pushing with good vibes and positivity.”
Morata has scored eight goals at European Championships and World Cups, at least double the amount of any other player for Spain since 2016.