Spain held to shock draw by Cape Verde in their World Cup opener

Lamine Yamal comes off the bench but cannot help Spain overcome World Cup debutants Cape Verde in 0-0 draw.Spain’s ghosts of recent World Cup horror shows reappeared in Atlanta as the European champions were held 0-0 by debutants Cape Verde in their opening game.Lamine Yamal was left on the bench as the Barcelona superstar is eased back to fitness after nearly two months out with a hamstring injury, and even his appearance as a second-half substitute failed to break down Cape Verde’s dogged defence.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4World Cup racism monitor urges FIFA to remove VAR official over gesturelist 2 of 4World Cup day five: Spain face Cape Verde as Iran’s opener draws attentionlist 3 of 4VIDEO: World Cup Day 4: Germany routs Curacao; Netherlands draw with Japanlist 4 of 4World Cup: Iranians in Los Angeles divided on whether to cheer or jeer Iranend of listSince winning the World Cup for the first time in 2010, Spain have not won a knockout game, and their inability to make dominance of possession count was reminiscent of their meek exits in 2018 and 2022.Blessed with what coach Luis de la Fuente claimed is the best football squad in the competition, Spain were considered among the pre-tournament favourites to go all the way and lift the World Cup on July 19.But the importance of Yamal and Nico Williams to their chances of success was underlined by a flat performance.Williams also had an injury-disrupted season at Athletic Bilbao and was not introduced until the 87th minute.Ranked 67 in the world, Cape Verde were making their debut on the global stage and did a nation of just over 500,000 people proud.In stark contrast to the searing temperatures faced by some other sides, Atlanta’s state-of-the-art air-conditioned stadium meant there were no excuses for the slow tempo of Spain’s build-up.Indeed, the mid-half hydration break was met by boos with fans frustrated at the break in play despite the cool conditions.It took until six minutes before half-time for Spain to seriously threaten.