This will lead to a re-assessment of expectations about the tournament favourites, though Spain have one day longer to recover than their opponents in the quarter-final. And they did win.

Spain finally scored against a resilient and enterprising Croatia but not until the 88th minute and with a goal that contained hints of both offside and handball.

It is always handy to have someone called Jesus on the bench and when Del Bosque considered that this was not going to be another goalscoring occasion for Fernando Torres, Sevilla’s Jesus Navas entered the fray.

Torres was one of a number of Spain players who could have been removed and Cesc Fabregas then replaced David Silva. With time disappearing and Spain still vulnerable to a Croat counter — a goal then could have sent Spain home with Holland — Fabregas found Andres Iniesta behind the Croatian back four.

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