Spain are a top team but not the best in the world, says Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique claimed Spain are among the top teams in the world, but insisted they have to improve if they want to be the best.

La Roja defeated a plucky Kosovo side 2-0, making it consecutive wins to top Group B after Sweden ended their 66-game unbeaten run in World Cup qualifying that stretched back to 1993.

Pablo Fornals was on target for his first international strike, while Ferran Torres scored to become the first player to score six goals in a calendar year for Spain since David Silva (seven) in 2017.

Second-place Sweden slipping up against Greece opened a four-point gap but Luis Enrique implored his team to improve if they are to challenge to be the world’s number-one outfit.

“We have made many mistakes, we have had many inaccuracies and we have suffered because of that,” Luis Enrique told reporters post-match.

“It was a great relief to score the second goal, which ended the match and see the result that we all hope.

“This group is excellent and eager to improve, accept everything that they are told with the idea of being a stronger team. [We] made changes, six or seven new players coming in but the idea and philosophy stays the same.

“But we are not the best in the world even though we are among the best. Anyone can beat us and there is no one who wins every game.”

10 – Ferran Torres has scored 10 goals in just 20 games for Spain in all competitions, the fewest appearances of any Spanish player to reach 10+ goals since Paco Alcácer in 2014 (12 goals in 19 games in total). Jewel. pic.twitter.com/lhxClCyIyw

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) September 8, 2021

The Spain head coach also bemoaned the quality of the pitch in Pristina, a sentiment echoed by Aymeric Laporte, who recorded a game-high 139 touches and completed another game-leading 96.9 per cent of his 129 passes.

“It was a highly contested game, we got [the win] at the end and it relieved us,” Laporte said post-match.

“The pitch was not optimal. We kept our idea of playing and with a pitch like this, it is complicated.

“In the end, the important thing is the result. We have the determination to win everything, we are Spain and now we have to win everything.”