Diego Costa Breaks His Duck as Spain Learn to Play the Costa Way

The drought is finally over. Seven matches into his career as a Spanish international, Diego Costa finally scored his first goal for the country in their 4-0 Euro 2016 qualifying victory away to Luxembourg on Sunday.

Per AS, Costa’s 445-minute scoreless run coming into the match was the longest ever for a Spanish international striker.

The 301 minutes it took Dani Guiza to open his national team account was the longest time a debutant striker had previously gone without scoring.

For a while, it seemed like Costa’s seventh appearance would also end goalless. He was regularly involved during the first half but missed two or three very good chances to open his account.

But his goal finally came in the 70th minute, when he spun to fire home unmarked from inside the area. He was immediately mobbed by his teammates, keen to show their support following a much-improved performance from the Chelsea striker. ESPN's Dermot Corrigan had this quote:

Vicente Del Bosque changed his tactics in the wake of the defeat to Slovakia on Thursday, employing a midfield diamond with Sergio Busquets at its base and David Silva at its tip. Paco Alcacer partnered Costa up front.

The new shape and the manner in which Spain used the ball seemed to be designed to get the best out of Costa.

With Alcacer in close attendance, Costa was not the isolated figure he has been in previous internationals. His headed flick-ons and one-touch layoffs were naturally intended for the Valencia front man. 

The pair linked superbly throughout the first half, with Alcacer laying on two good chances for his strike partner.

Costa also benefited from more direct service up to him. Spain’s defenders often looked to launch long passes forward, either onto his head or in behind the surprisingly high-lined home defence.

When Spain did work the ball through midfield, the final pass was often a slipped through-ball into the right channel for Costa. With no wide forward to clog up the space into which he likes to move, Costa was a regular threat.

Loose control prevented him from taking advantage of a couple of early opportunities. He then fired wide following a neat exchange with Alcacer and missed out on a further effort from inside the area.

When he miscued horribly wide after being sent free in behind by Koke on 31 minutes, it seemed his first international goal would never come.

Yves Logghe/Associated Press/Associated Press

He pulled his shirt up over his face to hide his shame and was later pictured shaking his head in disbelief, perhaps wondering quite how he had failed to break his duck during a first half that Spain had dominated.

He cut a frustrated and forlorn figure when he was booked for a late but relatively harmless challenge on a Luxembourg defender just past the hour mark.

But the goal Costa has long desired finally came just under 10 minutes later. His relief was palpable—514 minutes after first stepping onto a pitch in the red of Spain, he had finally scored an international goal.

It is clearly difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from a single match, particularly against a side who are a full 119 places below Spain in the FIFA rankings and who had, as per Soccerway, won just three of their previous 25 internationals. But Spain were nevertheless impressive, especially during the first half.

Silva flourished in the space that opened up for him behind the two strikers, and Koke benefited from having two direct passing options ahead of him. But both full-backs made the most of the freedom afforded to them.

A team with more quality might have taken better advantage of the space available in behind Spain’s full-backs on the counter-attack, but there was otherwise little to criticise in a strong performance.

There could never have been any doubt as to Costa’s quality. His importance to Atletico Madrid’s Primera Division title success last season cannot be overstated, while he has made a superb start to his career at Chelsea, scoring nine goals in seven league starts. Yet it would be fair to say that he had failed to mesh with the tactics of the Spanish national team prior to Sunday’s match.

With a quicker, more dynamic and more Costa-centric approach, Spain provided an enticing glimpse into what could lie ahead at Euro 2016.

Having ended his drought on a rain-soaked night in Luxembourg, Costa will now hope to become a regular scorer for Del Bosque’s reformatted Spain.

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