In ancient wars, the command "take no prisoners" implies a ruthless approach to the battle at hand with no display of mercy tolerable. Such was the case albeit this time not on the battle field but a soccer field as Spain decimated Liechtenstein in their opening World Cup qualifying game at the Estadio Reinode Leon.
It is a new era, new tactics, new instructions and Spain showed that adapting to new instructor Julen Lopetegui and shaking off the cobwebs of the past would not be a problem.
The game started with Spain having the initiative and Chelsea striker Diego Costa got their only goal in the first half via a pinpoint header from a Koke cross and despite various close calls, Liechtenstein held on to preserve the scoreline.
However the floodgates flew open in the second half when Sergi Roberto drove the ball into the net in the 55th minute after a sublime pass from Manchester City man Vitolo. Vitolo was on hand again with another defense splitting pass to club teammate David Silva for the game's third. Silva turned supplier for Vitolo seconds later for the game's fourth.
Diego Costa got the game's fifth with another header before Alvaro Morata scored a late brace and David Silva completed the rout.
The era of tiki-taka might be over, but with their recent displays, I believe Espana is once more a force to be reckoned with. What do you think?
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