Spain coach Luis Enrique explains Ramos substitution for Greece draw | OneFootball

Spain coach Luis Enrique explained substituting Sergio Ramos in their draw with World Cup qualifying opponents Greece.

Enrique has made clear that he had agreed with Real Madrid captain Ramos beforehand that the captain would only play the first half of La Roja's 1-1 draw against Greece on Thursday night.

It came as a surprise to many people when the Spain captain was withdrawn at half time, and it backfired against La Roja as his replacement, Inigo Martinez, gave away a penalty 10 minutes after coming on.

"Ramos is fine. We decided beforehand that he would only play the first half," Luis Enrique confirmed in his post-match press conference.

Greece ended up equalising from the penalty spot, but the Spain coach was not happy with the light nature of it.

"I would like to know how it came about, but I don't want to get into controversy," Luis Enrique said.

Curiously, it was almost the same Spain XI that beat Germany 6-0, with the exception of Sergi Roberto and Pau Torres, yet Greece frustrated La Roja at times.

"The difference with Germany is in what they tried [to do]," Luis Enrique explained.

"Every game has its difficulties. They defended very well.

"We lacked freshness and finesse in the final third of the pitch. It's not my job to rate the draw. I don't think we deserved to draw. I think that 1-0 was fair.

We were not up to the task of solving what the game demanded."

Bryan Gil made his debut off the bench and showed some real positive signs for La Roja.

"You have seen what he has contributed. He was very good," the Spain boss stated.