Spain U21 1-0 Russia U21: Top three players of the match

He put in a couple of clean sliding tackles, displacing Spanish possession down the right flank. Occasionally the open green ahead tempted him forward and he was content with advancing, ball at his feet, and taking on the Spanish players before being crowded out. He was the primary source of the few counter-attacks the Russians attempted. He largely maintained his defensive discipline, when he did take his chances to close down an opponent in a deeper zone, he came away with the ball. His positioning was impressive too, as he stepped up and showed his maturity, making some vital interceptions along the way.

Yakovlev is best seen running down the left channel, something which wasn’t witnessed much against Spain as his attacking contributions were restricted. But he had his moment and nearly pulled off what could arguably have been a contender for goal of the tournament. He ventured forward and found himself in the centre, some 30-40 yards from the goal. Facing three Spanish players the ball bounced up in front of him, in an almost instant motion he improvised and attempted an audacious volley. It was technical perfection and an outrageous attempt on goal, which was just inches away from beating De Gea in goal.

Asier Illarramendi

On paper, Spain have a team that is as impressive as any other at these Euros. Names such as Isco, Muniain, Thiago, De Gea et al roll off the tongues of most fans of the beautiful game.

While credit must go to Russia, one look at the dominance of possession (a whopping 78%) that Spain enjoyed will give you the impression that Spain should have won by a bigger margin. And this dominance was largely due to the central midfield axis of Thiago and Asier Illaramendi.

Illaramendi is your typical deep lying central-midfielder, who defenders love to have in front of them and forwards enjoy playing in front of. As you would expect from Spain, there was an emphasis on playing the ball out from the back. And an integral cog in the Spanish passing machine was the young midfielder from Real Sociedad. Serving as a fulcrum in midfield, Illaramendi played the deep lying creative-midfielder role to perfection. He always moves towards the ball creating space for himself and creating passing opportunities for his teammates. And once he does get the ball, his expert distribution ensures that he more often than not will find a teammate. This was portrayed in today’s game with Illaramendi boasting an impressive pass accuracy of 93%.

What perhaps sets him apart from some of his teammates is his willingness to get stuck in. Watching him play you get the feeling that he enjoys tackling. His strong tackling combined with his assured distribution make him a more than competent central midfielder. Boasting an impressive work rate, Illaramendi does a stellar job in executing a ‘clean up’ job in front of the defence. Another noticeable trait is his aerial prowess. Illaramendi more than held his own in the air against the Russians especially from goal kicks, winning four aerial duels in the game.

Illaramendi has already made his mark at Sociedad and at the U-21 level. He continues to put in performances of this calibre and it will be a question of when and not if he gets a senior call-up.

Special Mention

Prior to the start of this tournament we prepared alist of players to watch out for. Spanish youngster Alvaro Morata was on that list. The Real Madrid youngster came on for Iker Muniain to make his U-21 debut. A stretching header was his first contribution, and a sweet shot on the turn followed. He proved to be the match-winner scoring late on from Thiago’s cross. His short cameo, although not overly fantastic, was a vital contribution to the three points.