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Atlanta gets another World Cup match at noon today, and Spain arrives needing this match more than we thought they would coming into the tournament. Saturday already gave us a Dutch demolition in Houston, a Germany team that needed the same substitute to bail it out twice, and the smallest nation in World Cup history walking out of Kansas City with a point nobody outside the locker room saw coming. Today adds more storylines, starting with the one happening right here at home.

Spain arrives at Atlanta Stadium at noon today already searching for things it didn't think it would be searching for after one match. A 0-0 draw with Cape Verde to open the tournament has Group H suddenly uncomfortable for the reigning European champions, and a result against Saudi Arabia is no longer optional.

Lamine Yamal is the headline, as he often is. The Barcelona winger played the final 19 minutes against Cape Verde, still working back from an April muscle injury, and Luis de la Fuente would not confirm Sunday whether he starts. Pressed to compare Yamal to Messi or Maradona, the coach waved it off as unfair given Yamal is just 18 and still developing, reaching for art instead, likening him to Salvador Dalí and Michelangelo. "What seems exceptional to us, isn't for them," he said.

The more useful scouting report came from the other bench. Saudi Arabia coach Georgios Donis put it plainer than de la Fuente did: "Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench." Nico Williams' fitness is also unresolved, which points toward Ferran Torres starting after a disappointing opener. Many in the Spanish media expect Dani Olmo to replace Fabián Ruiz.

The most interesting element of de la Fuente's press conference was about tempo. He acknowledged Spain lacked speed in its ball movement against Cape Verde and said the team needs to rediscover the quick circulation that creates space. How they find that with the talented midfield they possess is a key to this match, as is how they deploy Pedri. On Monday, it felt that the more free Pedri was in his role, the better Spain looked. Late in the first half, he was consistently finding the open spaces and picking out dangerous passes. Can de la Fuente create the structure around him that gives him the freedom to be the conductor Spain needs?

Saudi Arabia brings its own story into Atlanta. Captain Salem Al-Dawsari scored the goal that beat Argentina at the 2022 World Cup, a moment that follows him everywhere, and he knows Spanish football firsthand from a loan spell at Villarreal in 2018. Donis insists none of that carries weight today, that his team is building its own track record rather than living off an old goal. Saudi Arabia had a great first 45 minutes against Uruguay before Bielsa’s side dominated the second half. The match finished 1-1. More conversations will be had about Spain coming into the building, but Saudi Arabia’s aggressive style under Donis will turn heads one way or another this afternoon.

The Netherlands and Germany both have their World Cups still alive heading into the knockout rounds, but Saturday told two very different stories about how each side got there. The Dutch made it look easy in Houston. Germany had to go find it.

Ronald Koeman's side put five past Sweden, the kind of performance that changes how a team gets talked about. Cody Gakpo and Brian Brobbey scored twice apiece, Crysencio Summerville added a late fifth, and the Netherlands were reportedly unplayable for stretches of both halves. Brobbey is the story underneath the story here. The 24-year-old took a winding road to this moment, through a disappointing spell at RB Leipzig and back to Ajax before Sunderland gave him a platform, and Koeman built Saturday's gameplan around getting him the ball in dangerous positions. It worked. This was the Dutch at their most convincing at a World Cup since they put five past Spain in 2014.

Germany's path looked nothing like that. Down 1-0 to Côte d'Ivoire on Franck Kessié's goal and struggling to create anything in the final third, Julian Nagelsmann made a triple substitution after the hour mark. Within minutes, two of those substitutes had combined: Nadiem Amiri crossed, Deniz Undav finished. Three minutes into stoppage time, Undav did it again off a sharp pass from Felix Nmecha, his second goal in as many appearances off the bench after also scoring against Curaçao. Undav's path to this tournament runs through the German fourth tier and a stop in Belgium, a route unusual enough that even his own coach once publicly questioned whether he belonged as anything more than an impact substitute, a comment Nagelsmann later apologized for. There was no hedging on Saturday. "He's simply a purebred striker," Nagelsmann said. "He's the kind of striker who simply knows where the goal is."

Joshua Kimmich made the broader point afterward, that Germany knew its bench would matter and built around that idea on purpose. "All the substitutions were outstanding today," he said. Both teams move on. The Netherlands now look like a team that could make a real run at this thing. Germany looks like a team that still has defensive questions to answer, but also one that knows exactly who to turn to when a game needs deciding.

Deniz Undav was playing third division football in Germany six years ago and didn't earn his first cap until he was 27, the kind of timeline that usually means a player never gets this moment at all. Down a goal to Côte d'Ivoire on Saturday, he came off the bench and scored twice in twelve minutes, the second one only months after his own coach had to apologize for calling him little more than a sub. Some stories are worth the wait.

Ecuador had the ball for 75 percent of Saturday's match in Kansas City and put 27 shots on goal. None of them found the net. Eloy Room, the 37-year-old goalkeeper for second-tier USL club Miami FC, made 15 saves to hold a scoreless draw, the most in World Cup history for a match that did not include extra time. By expected goals on target, the advanced metric that measures how many goals a keeper actually prevented, Room is credited with stopping somewhere between two and three goals by himself, the eighth-best single-match goalkeeping performance Opta has on record since 1966.

Room's path here took its time. He didn't become the starter at Vitesse in the Eredivisie until he was past 25, eventually winning the KNVB Cup in 2017 before a backup stint at PSV and four years at Columbus Crew, where he won an MLS Cup in 2020. He's bounced around since, back to Vitesse, a stop at Cercle Brugge, now Miami FC. Patrick Kluivert is the reason any of this connects to Curaçao at all. The former striker, then the Blue Wave's coach, called Room in 2015 to use his Curaçaoan heritage, and Room became a fixture for the national team, eventually serving as vice-captain on the qualifying run that put the smallest nation ever to play a World Cup into this one.

A week earlier, Curaçao had opened its tournament with a 7-1 defeat to Germany. Coach Dick Advocaat said the support back home, a country of 156,000, never wavered. "They were fighting like lions," he said of Saturday's performance, a description that doubled as an answer to anyone who watched the Germany scoreline and assumed they knew what this team was.

The day picked up an extra layer when King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, head of state over Curaçao as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, flew from the Dutch win over Sweden in Houston straight to Kansas City, trading orange scarves for blue ones. Midfielder Tahith Chong called it amazing to celebrate the program's first World Cup point with the royal family in the locker room afterward.

Curaçao closes group play Thursday against Côte d'Ivoire in Philadelphia, same day Ecuador faces Germany in New York. However that goes, Saturday already belongs to them.

One World Cup match in Atlanta is the city's moment today, but it's one piece of a global slate that already reshaped a group overnight and sets up two more decisive results before the day is done.

On The Field

Japan put on the most one-sided forty-five minutes anyone has seen from them at a World Cup, beating Tunisia 4-0 to eliminate the Eagles of Carthage and pull level with the Netherlands atop Group F. Daichi Kamada opened the scoring in the fourth minute, the fastest goal in Japan's World Cup history, and Ayase Ueda added two more either side of a Junya Ito finish, capping a personal tournament that already includes a Eredivisie scoring title with Feyenoord. Tunisia's coach had been fired after the opener. The replacement didn't change the outcome.

Today's slate keeps moving. Cape Verde chases more history against South American power Uruguay in Miami, looking to follow up its scoreless draw with Spain. Egypt and New Zealand meet in Vancouver with both programs still chasing their first ever World Cup win. Elsewhere, Belgium and Iran are set to meet in Los Angeles, a matchup already carrying tension off the field after Iran's federation said it would file a FIFA complaint over travel rules barring the team from overnight stays in the U.S. on matchdays.

Off The Field

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha became the story of the tournament's opening week for reasons that had nothing to do with tactics. The 40 year old was named Player of the Match against Spain, then broke down afterward talking about his mother, who hadn't been able to get a visa in time to see it. The reaction online was enough that the U.S. State Department got involved, and she landed in Miami on Friday with time to spare for today's match.

Color has its own storyline this tournament. Pink boots are everywhere, worn by Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal among dozens of others, the latest version of a trend that traces back to Nike's colored boots at the 1998 World Cup. Nike, Adidas, Puma, Skechers and New Balance all released pink colorways ahead of this tournament.

Egypt's Teenager: 18 year old Hamza Abdelkarim, on loan from Al Ahly to Barcelona and the youngest player ever to suit up for Egypt at a World Cup, starts the conversation about who succeeds Mohamed Salah. He's expected to feature again Sunday against New Zealand.

Panama and Croatia, Pivotal: The two meet Tuesday in Toronto in a Group L match neither side can afford to lose, with Panama still chasing the program's first ever World Cup win and Croatia looking to avoid the upset after a 4-2 loss to England.

SDH AM, live now on YouTube and Twitch: Jon Nelson catches you up on everything from Saturday and sets the table for today's slate across the tournament, including Atlanta's match. Miss it live and it lands as a podcast right after.

Follow along live, @soccerdownhere: The SDH Network has complete coverage from downtown Atlanta as Spain and Saudi Arabia kick off today, a result that could shape both teams' entire group stage.

Atlanta Soccer Tonight, 9 to 11pm on 92.9 The Game, the Audacy app, and the 92.9 YouTube channel: The crew breaks down today's results from Atlanta and around the world, live, with the replay available afterward on the Off The Woodwork podcast feed.

Spurs Step Up Pursuit of Tonali With Direct Newcastle Contact: Tottenham have opened club-to-club talks with Newcastle United over a deal for Sandro Tonali, intensifying a battle with Manchester City for the Italy international. Newcastle want close to £100 million for the 26-year-old, who has three years left on his contract with a 12-month extension option.

Enzo Fernández Edges Closer to Real Madrid Move: Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández could leave before the end of the month, with Real Madrid considered his most likely destination despite Chelsea's reported £120 million valuation. Co-owner Todd Boehly has previously said long-term deals still require a decision well before they expire, a stance that now appears to be playing out.

Milan Eye Gonçalo Ramos, Could Send Giménez to MLS: Milan are exploring a move for Paris Saint-Germain forward Gonçalo Ramos and could help fund the deal by selling Santiago Giménez to Orlando City. PSG paid Benfica roughly €80 million for Ramos in 2023, and reports suggest an offer near €40 million could be enough to pry him loose this summer.

Casemiro Agrees Move to Inter Miami: Casemiro has reached a verbal agreement to join Inter Miami as a free agent once his Manchester United contract expires June 30, fending off interest from LA Galaxy and clubs in the Saudi Pro League. The move is expected to be finalized after the World Cup, with the 34-year-old currently on international duty with Brazil.

Spain doesn't get to choose between patience and urgency today. Not with Yamal and Williams still working their way back to full fitness and a tournament favorite's reputation already on the line after one underwhelming afternoon, Atlanta needs to see both from them at once.

Song of the Day: "Tightrope" by Janelle Monáe. Balance over panic, which is exactly what's being asked of Spain this afternoon.

Jason