Luis Enrique didn’t realise Spain were on brink of World Cup KO and jokes he would've had a ‘heart attack’ had he known | The Sun

LUIS ENRIQUE revealed he didn't realise Spain were on the brink of a shock early World Cup exit.

Then he joked he would have had a "heart attack" if he was aware of the situation.

Spain scraped through from Group E on goal difference ahead of Germany on a chaotic night in Qatar.

Enrique's side led Japan but fell 2-1 behind early in the second half.

Just minutes later, Costa Rica completed their own surprise turnaround to lead Germany by the same scoreline.

And had things stayed the same, Spain would have joined Germany on the next flight home.

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However, La Roja were helped out by the 2014 champions who eventually prevailed 4-2.

It meant that Spain, despite their loss to Japan, got through in second place to set up a last-16 clash with Morocco but Germany crashed out.

And Enrique admitted in his press conference he was not up to speed with all the permutations – but was glad that was the case.

The Spanish boss said: "We were knocked out?

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"I was not paying attention to the other match, when did that happen?

"I didn't know this.

"If I found that out, I would have had a heart attack."

Japan's winning goal had an air of controversy as the ball only just stayed in – despite the camera angles looking as though it had gone out.

Fans and broadcasters were left confused as Fifa did not provide the evidence to prove the ball was still in when Kaoru Mitoma somehow pulled it back for Ao Tanaka to finish.

Even Enrique initially thought it may well have crossed the line as his side will now likely avoid a tricky World Cup quarter-final clash with Brazil.

The former Barcelona chief said: "From my angle the ball was clearly half out. More than that I could not say because of the speed. 

"I was concerned about scoring but there was always a possibility that it was going to be out.

"If it was not out and it was not a goal I would not have been disappointed but in the end it was a goal so that was great."

He added: "In football, you deserve it or not and we didn't deserve it. I'm not happy at all.

"I would have liked to be on top and win but in five minutes Japan scored two. We were dismantled.

"We didn't have any danger in the first half and then at half-time I told them to be cautious because they had nothing to lose.

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"We collapsed and they could have scored two more goals. I'm not happy at all.

"I never celebrate defeats so we have nothing to celebrate. We have qualified but I have nothing to celebrate."

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