FIFA Women's World Cup: Spain cruise past Costa Rica 3-0

Spain fired a warning shot to their Womens World Cup rivals with a 30 defeat of Costa Rica on Friday with superstar Alexia Putellas making a late cameo off the benchThe Spaniards showed why theyre among the favourites in a Group C mismatch in Wellington rifling 46 shots against opponents who spent nearly the entire game defending and were flattered by the scorelineLa Roja dominated possession from the off with their slick passing and threatened a rout when all three goals came in the space of six minutes midway through the first half They were joined in the 77th minute by reigning twotime Ballon dOr winner Putellas whose fitness had been in doubt after cutting short a training session on MondayCoach Jorge Vilda indicated on Thursday he would carefully manage the workload of the 29yearold midfielder who hasnt completed a full game since returning in April from a serious knee injuryPutellas produced some neat touches over the closing minutes but couldnt help a frustrated Spain add to the scoresheetHer Barcelona teammate Aitana Bonmati was a classy playmaker throughout most of the contest creating many of Spains best chances and finding the net herselfBonmati was one of three players who returned from a ninemonth exile to play in the World Cup She was among a group of 15 who made themselves unavailable for selection in a player revolt against Vilda that rocked Spains preparationsThe first goal came 21 minutes into the contest when Costa Rica defender Valeria del Campo sliced a low cross from Esther Gonzalez into her own net Bonmati doubled the lead Gonzalez grabbed the third with a closerange volleyIt should have been four soon afterwards but Jennifer Hermoso was denied from the penalty spot by goalkeeper Daniela Solera who was a critical figure in keeping the scoreline downSolera made nine saves including a host of fingertip efforts in the second half as Spain lost some fluidityCosta Rica are still searching for a first World Cup win having failed to advance from the group phase in their lone appearance eight years ago when their opening match was a 11 draw with Spain The teams share the same group as Japan and Zambia who meet in Hamilton on SaturdayAlso Read FIFA Womens World Cup Cohosts New Zealand Australia start campaign with narrow winsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever