Spain vs. Belarus: Score, Grades and Reaction from Euro 2016 Qualifier

Real Madrid midfielder Isco’s first goal, on his first international start, was the standout moment as Spain cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Belarus in Huelva on Saturday.

Isco found the top corner from all of 25 yards after 18 minutes to break the deadlock in the Group C meeting, as Sergio Busquets scored with a deflected strike less than 60 seconds later to effectively kill off the match as a contest.

Barcelona forward Pedro then scored at the start of the second half to clinch three points, as Spain cruised to victory inside the Nuevo Colombino—a ground picked to host the game because Huelva, Spain’s oldest club, is celebrating its 125-year anniversary.

The victory puts Vicente del Bosque’s side back on track for qualification, with nine points from a possible 12. Belarus, still with only one point to their name, perhaps always knew that reaching the 2016 finals in France would be a tough ask.

Afterwards, Del Bosque said (per Football Espana):

"

We played well, we dominated the game and in less than half-an-hour we scored two goals. 

We hurt the match because we wanted to play too narrow and too artistically. Isco played well but he got caught up in doing things that depended on the fine margins.

But we’re not a team that usually gets goals from outside the box and we did here so that should boost morale. We were comfortable, we were convincing at 2-0 and then we got carried away. But the game went well.

"

In the end it was a comfortable victory for the hosts, albeit not a game they dominated in the way some might have anticipated. After the horror of the World Cup and the stuttering start to this campaign, there did appear early signs of a return to the more fluid, attractive attacking style they had previously attained, although Belarus held firm for large parts of the contest and only fleetingly looked like they might be on the end of a real beating.

As it turned out, an early moment of quality from Isco would prove decisive in the flow of the contest. In part, the visitors had themselves to blame; an attempt to pass the ball out of defence being easily anticipated by Koke, who won the ball back in a dangerous position on the edge of the box.

From that moment it was all about Isco’s quality, however, as the playmaker received the pass, cut inside, and then found the top corner with a truly breathtaking strike.

Belarus barely had time to reset their defence before they found themselves 2-0 down. This time it was bad fortune, rather than bad defending, that contributed to their demise, as Sergio Busquets’ low drive clipped a defender on its way past the unfortunate Yuri Zhevnov.

It was Busquets’ second goal for his country—the first having also come via the aid of a deflection.

With an advantage established, Del Bosque made a change just after half-time, withdrawing Busquets for Villarreal’s holding midfielder Bruno Soriano. Spain continued to push forward, however, and within ten minutes of the restart they had their third and final goal.

Sergio Camacho/Getty Images

It was a slick passing move that created the opportunity, as Koke, Santi Cazorla and Juanfran exchanged passes down by the right touchline. The latter man edged into the box and then laid the ball off invitingly for Pedro, who took a touch before powering a crisp shot into the roof of Zhevnov’s net.

That was the cue for further changes, as Del Bosque introduced both Jose Callejon and Alvaro Morata for their senior international debuts. In the event, neither ex-Real Madrid player would have a clear-cut chance to score on their debuts, with Belarus actually creating the better shooting opportunities in the closing stages.

Both Sergei Krivets and Sergey Politevich failed to test Iker Casillas—who had replaced the injured David de Gea in the starting XI—as the hosts kept their clean sheet intact.

Pedro then had a last-minute chance to get his second of the game, but the post would deny him that moment.

A 3-0 victory will be considered nothing more than par for the course by this Spanish side, but there were nevertheless plenty of positives to be taken from the overall display.

Sergio Camacho/Getty Images

Player Ratings

Player	Rating
Iker Casillas	6
Juanfran	7
Gerard Pique	6
Sergio Ramos	7
Jordi Alba	6
Sergio Busquets	6
Koke	7
Santi Cazorla	7
Isco	8
Pedro Rodriguez	7
Paco Alcacer	7
Substitutions
Bruno Soriano	7
Jose Callejon	6
Alvaro Morata	6

Player	Rating
Yuri Zhevnov	7
Alexander Martynovich	6
Sergey Matveichik	6
Sergei Balanovich	6
Sergey Politevich	7
Alexey Yanushkevich	6
Stanislav Dragun	6
Sergei Krivets	6
Pavel Nekhaychik	7
Timofey Kalachev	6
Sergey Kornilenko	7
Substitutions
Maxim Bordachev	6
Nikolay Signevich	6
Sergey Kisliak	6

What's Next?

Spain's next game is an intriguing international friendly against Germany on Tuesday. Belarus, meanwhile, host Mexico in Borisov the same night.