Spain duo Alvaro Morata and Dani Carvajal were only fit enough to start on the bench against Costa Rica having caught colds from their air conditioning units over in Qatar.
Luis Enrique ’s men opened up their latest World Cup campaign in style on Wednesday night against the Central American nation by chalking up the biggest victory in tournament history - eventually running out 7-0 victors at the Al Thumama Stadium.
Before the match even kicked off though, there were questions over the Spain starting XI with Morata and Carvajal having both been left out of the side in favour of Ferran Torres and Cesar Azpilicueta despite the pair having seemingly been first choices going into the tournament.
It has now been revealed that the duo were suffering from the effects of the Qatari climate having apparently picked up colds from their air-conditioning units at the Qatar University Hostel. The units have been hard at work throughout the tournament thus far with temperatures over in the Middle Eastern country only dropping to around 23 degrees at night following peaks of around 32 degrees in the middle of the day.
It appears that Morata and Carvajal made their rooms slightly too cold though with talkSPORT reporting that they had been struck down with slight colds ahead of their meeting with Costa Rica. Their absences did not affect Enrique’s plans all that much however.
The 2010 champions found themselves 3-0 up at the break with strikes from Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio and Torres. The former Manchester City man added another after half-time, whilst Gavi and Carlos Soler also got on the scoresheet.
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Morata was fit enough to be introduced as a substitute and had enough time to grab himself a goal with a well-placed finish in stoppage time. The 30-year-old’s record now sits at 28 goals in 58 matches for Spain.
Former Spanish international Aitor Karanka has been full of praise for the former Chelsea flop and suggests that he has full faith of manager Enrique. Writing in a column for The Sun, he wrote: “I have known Alvaro since I coached him at the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria.
“He is the same character now as he was back then. Sometimes his body language suggests that he can be affected by criticism, which he received at last summer’s Euros from some supporters who felt he was wasteful.
“But, trust me, he does not care. So long as he has a manager who believes in him, he will not be disheartened if he misses a chance and will have full faith he will score the next one. And he’s always trying to improve. He’s a great professional and a top striker.”
It remains to be seen if Morata returns to the starting line-up with Spain next in action on Sunday against Germany - Hansi Flick’s side having lost their opener to Japan.
