La Roja travelled to Tbilisi to play their first World Cup qualifier and returned victors as expected with Del Bosque praising the European minnows for their resilient attitude.
Spanish national coach, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Georgia-c2903 in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifying encounter.
The European champions locked horns with the Eastern European outfit away from home in what was considered to be a mismatch.
Experts had expected the Reds to come away with a comfortable victory, they did return with three points which were in no means easy to get.
However, the home side made it difficult for the visitors to attack and it was not before late in the second half that the first goal of the match was scored.
As the match kicked off, both sides displayed a rather defensive style of play. Del Bosque opted to start with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roberto-Soldado-c31367 as the lone striker upfront.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011’s only forward.
The first half was a cagy affair with both sides failing to come up with a breakthrough. Georgia rarely started an attacking move as they were concentrating their efforts on keeping the Spaniards out.
They were successful in not letting La Furia Roja unleash their attacking prowess in the first period but could not continue after the break. Soldado found the back of the net in the 86th minute, providing the World Champions with a late goal.
The Real Madrid youth academy graduate's goal sealed the victory for the Iberian giants providing them with all 3 points.
Nevertheless, Del Bosque voiced his admiration for Georgia’s wondrous display.
According to FIFA’s website, the veteran tactician was quoted as saying:
"I want to congratulate Georgia for their extraordinary performance. They put us in a lot of difficulty with their enthusiasm and their ability to defend all our attacks through both the centre and the wings.”
"We knew they would be organised, defend well and that they have options up front with strength that we had to be careful of. It wasn't through courtesy that I spoke about them being a strong rival beforehand.”
Spain will now face http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Belarus-c2849 in their next match of the FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifying campaign.
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