Krasnodar: Spain midfielder Thiago Alcantara on Friday acknowledged that although La Roja qualified for the knockout stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the team has somewhat underperformed. 


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Spain, the 2010 World Cup champion, earned only one 1-0 win in their group play, over Iran, and otherwise was held to a draw by Portugal in their first Group B clash and Morocco in the final match of the World Cup group phase.


"We finished top of the group but not by playing the best football, or the football you expect from us," said the Italian-born Spain international. "We have to be self-critical," he added at a press conference 


"For us the most important thing is important thing is to prepare well for the match against Russia. We won't be playing against 11 Russians, but rather thousands of them, in front of a packed stadium," he continued. 


Spain were set to take on Russia on Sunday evening at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.