KOCHI: Spain and Real Madrid great Fernando Morientes on Tuesday said that he expects Sergio Ramos and co to be crowned world champions come July 15 despite them only huffing and puffing to the knockout stages of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The Spaniards only managed five points, the same as Portugal, in Group B and were held to a dramatic 2-2 deadlock by Morocco in Kaliningrad the other day. La Rajos will now face hosts Russia in the Round of 16 on Sunday.
"Though they haven't had an ideal start, I feel they have the quality to win the World Cup," said Morientes who was in Kochi to launch the LaLiga World preseason tournament featuring ISL franchise Kerala Blasters, LaLiga's Girona FC and A-League club Melbourne City FC to be held here from July 24 to 28.
The defence has been singled out as a major area of concern by Spain's newly appointed coach Fernando Hierro, but the legendary forward felt centre-backs Ramos and Gerar Pique have been left exposed by the lack of defensive effort from other areas of the team.
"Ramos and Pique are the best. They are untouchables. But the team has to attack together and defend together. Everyone including the forwards has to track back these days, and if that happens, I think we can tighten our defence," said Morientes, who represented Spain at two World Cups.
Morientes is also confident that the knee-jerk sacking of coach Julen Lopetegui hours before the start of the World Cup has not had an effect on the players. "It is a very important thing for a player to represent his country at the World Cup no matter who the coach is," he said.
"The sacking might have left them wondering for a couple of days, but they are professionals. Lopetegui was a great coach as we saw in the qualifiers, but Hierro has exactly the same philosophy. So, it has not been a big problem," said Morientes who felt the whole situation could have been handled better.
"If Spain go and win the World Cup, everything will be alright. But if they fail, all hell could break loose," he said. Morientes who was a prolific goalscorer for Real Zaragosa, AS Monaco, Liverpool and Valencia as well also had a piece of advice for Spain's hitman Diego Costa.
"Costa is a brilliant player. For every No 9s, the goals come from how they are feeling physically as well as how they are feeling mentally. It is a balance between the two. He has reclaimed his spot in the national team and is proving his worth with the goals he is scoring at the World Cup," said Morientes.
adwaidh@newindianexpress.com