Relief ran through Spanish ranks after Gerard Pique's late header secured a 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic in their opening Group D match at Euro 2016 on Monday.
Coach Vicente del Bosque felt the holders were always in control and bristled a little when it was suggested they should score more.
“Everyone wants to score more but we haven’t been too bad in the last few years with this style," he said.
“We have the responsibility to win and not just play nicely. Now we’re obviously a bit more optimistic about the future than if we’d drawn.”
The often lugubrious coach repeatedly refused to be drawn into praising individual players, with the exception of one he had left out of the team.
“Iker has been exceptional,” Del Bosque said when asked about how record caps holder Iker Casillas felt about David de Gea playing in goal instead of him.
“It’s not about individuals,” was his response to invitations to praise goalscorer Pique or man-of-the-match Andres Iniesta.
