Spain defender, Cesar Azpilicueta, has rubbished any suggestion that they lost against Japan because they knew Germany would be eliminated from the 2022 World Cup.
Luis Enrique’s side were expected to take maximum points from their final fixture in Group E.
Despite taking the lead through Alvaro Morata, they ended up losing 2-1.
Spain still progressed into the Round of 16, but as runners-up in the group. That also meant they avoided the possibility of meeting Brazil in the quarter-finals.
“I was aware, in the second half [of the Germany scoreline] I was on the bench so I was aware of the situation.
“We are the first disappointed to not win the game so you can see what happened. It was difficult because it’s something that you cannot control, the other game. The only thing we could do was to try to give confidence and to help our teammates to win our game,”; Azpilicueta said.
Spain will face Morocco for a place in the quarter-finals.
