Luis Enrique wants Spain to come out swinging and making a racket tonight.
The former Barcelona great has adopted a saying made famous by tennis legend Billie Jean King as he looks to top Group E. Spain’s coach is living by the motto: ‘Pressure is a privilege’ and wants his squad to enjoy themselves as they seek the victory that will secure passage to the last 16.
American superstar King coined the phrase and it adorns a plaque at the central court at the US Open venue in Queens. Enrique said: “We have copied the slogan “Pressure is a privilege,’ from the US Open. This is our privilege. We are the chosen ones here. It reflects what we are looking for.
“There are so many cliches about training camps being very strict. I don’t know who came up with this. The players have time off..why should they have to follow strict rules?
“The only rule I set when we met up 16 days ago is that we need to have fun - we need to enjoy this.”
If the form-book is anything to go by, Spain could avoid meeting tournament favourites Brazil if they finish runners-up. But Enrique says he will be taking no chances.
He added: “We have wondered about this. We have reflected upon it. Yes, it would be better to finish runners-up. But what happens if it’s goalless in both games at 90 minutes? And then Japan and Costa Rica both score a goal - we’re out.
“We’re here to win seven matches. We want to win the group. Does that mean we have to play runners-up of Group F?
“So what? That’s perfect. Whatever. In theory it could be Brazil. Okay, great, so let’s play Brazil. There’s no such thing as ‘easy’ in football. To win a World Cup you have to beat everyone that comes your way.”
And Enrique certainly won’t be taking anything for granted against the Japanese. The two countries have recent previous history.
He added: “Japan are a world-class national team. Tomorrow is an acid test for us. We struggled against them in the Olympics. We went to extra time.
"They beat Germany. We know how good they are. It’s a massive test for us.”
Japan’s players have had to cope with a flood of criticism following a tidal wave of praise as they followed up a shock victory over Germany with an insipid defeat to Costa Rica.
Head coach Hajime Moriyasu said: “The second match didn’t go as we expected. Many people were disappointed because if we’d have won, we’d have gone through to the group stage.
“We’re going to be kicking off at 4am at home. I guess for a lot of Japanese people it’s going to be very difficult but I hope as many people will watch.
“We will be looking to meet their expectations.”
