Spain Striker Diego Costa Angry at Criticisms Over His Physical Style of Play Against Iran
Spain striker Diego Costa has reacted angrily to comments about his physical style of play in the post-match interview after Spain's 1-0 victory over Iran in their Group B clash in the World Cup.
Costa scored the only goal of the game, yet he was accused of stepping on Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand's foot in the first-half, prompting questions over his aggression.
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According to the Metro, an Iranian journalist asked the Atletico Madrid forward whether he felt he had provoked the Iranian players with his playing style, a question which appeared to irritate the player.
Costa replied saying "I don't know what match you've seen. In the first half, they were provoking us all the time.
"You have to come and see the match as it is, not because it's your country, and you come to ask a silly question."
Costa has now scored three goals in Spain's first two group games and has been particularly clinical, having scored with his first three shots-on-target in this World Cup. He will likely now have his eyes set on the golden boot, as he is only one goal behind front-runner Cristiano Ronaldo.
Spain are currently level on points and goal difference with Portugal in Group B and will be hoping to beat Morocco easily to go through to the last sixteen, although they did struggle to obtain victory over Iran in Wednesday's game.
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The Iranian side had an equaliser ruled out by VAR, as the goalscorer was deemed to be offside after the players had already celebrated the goal. This allowed Spain a sign of relief as they hope to avoid repeating their nightmare World Cup in 2014, where they were eliminated in the group stages.
