Spain disarms Korea and qualifies for the round of 16

Lulu Jiménez drives the ball before a rival and the gaze of her partner Begoña García. AFP7 via Europa Press (AFP7 via Europa Press)

The sticky notes of

by Gigi D'Agostino or the electrifying

by David Guetta welcomed the more than 3,000 fans who arrived at the stadium, in addition to infusing the necessary energy into the Spanish team, required to beat South Korea South to close the group stage as second classified.

They comfortably beat Canada in the World Cup appetizer, then Argentina hit them a good smack on the head in the second duel and, finally, the

pulled Sara Barrios to dismantle Korea and qualify for the round of 16 against India, this Sunday (6:00 p.m.

and

)

.

Although, as a good Englishman, Adrian Block shows off the usual British phlegm, since he is not seen to make a fuss or let out bawls at the wrong time from the technical area, something did not add up with his team against Korea, since he did not stop giving instructions, ask their players to press higher and, above all, define one of the multiple occasions they enjoyed.

But at the beginning there was no way, pinwheel goalkeeper Jinmin Lee, who had legs and mittens for everyone.

A recital under the sticks that the

.

He succeeded Xantal and María López in several penalty-corners;

It happened to Belén Iglesias after receiving a sensational pass from between the lines by Gigi Oliva, the compass of Spain;

and Lulu Jiménez suffered twice, one of them in a hand in hand.

Korea was a wall.

Until Sara Barrios knocked him down in a big way, because he stole in the pressure, he danced with the ball to throw a self-pass and, already with the goalkeeper in front, he released the pass to Begoña García, who with a

(put the stick on the ground to mold the trajectory of the ball) autographed the first goal.

Lock, at last, shouted with joy and perhaps also contained rage in front of the bench.

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But this Spain, which has plenty of wrist and skills to execute a most harmonious possession -from side to side and I shoot because it's my turn-, lacks mordant in the areas.

Thus, after a loss in construction, in a sporadic Korean counterattack, sponsored by Enubo Cheon and catapulted by Seungju Lee, Candela Mejías scored an own goal in her attempt to avoid the rival's shot.

And back to the start, back to playing almost always in the opposite field to shell Korea based on

-passes from above- by Gigi, plays with shots that almost always ended in penalty-corners.

And in one of them, at last, Xantal hit a target, a whiplash that almost didn't unravel the net.

Sara Barrios proposed more of the same when she returned from the intermission, as she shot the post from the outside with barely 30 seconds left in the room.

Spain wanted more and knew that with the pressure it did a lot of damage, since the South Koreans did not give more than three passes in a row, almost none that discounted lines of pressure from the root.

Thus, after a robbery, Lulu Jiménez made a wall with Sara Barrios to release a shell at medium height that she hit.

So she once again thundered the notes of Raphael's

, always the musical embellishment for so many Spaniards.

With a two-goal advantage, Spain lowered their heart rate but not the line of pressure, neither the neat start from behind nor the chances in the rival area.

But Belén Iglesias, always unruly, did not have a fine-tuned peephole.

In any case, the last great play by Sara Barrios was missing, who stepped into the area after a zigzag and left her notch in the match, the goal that gave Lock rest, relief to her teammates and excitement to the Terrassa Olympic, who encouraged to do the wave to finish celebrating Spain's pass to the round of 16.

India, who reached the semifinals in the last Olympic Games, awaits him, an uncomfortable team to play due to its defensive structure and speed on the counter.

With María López at the start, with Gigi and Lulu in the engine room and with the inspiration of Sara Barrios, everything will be easier.

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