IAGO ASPAS is remembered in English football for one dreadful corner as Liverpool threw away the Premier League title against Chelsea.
But in Spain he has been firing on all cylinders, even earning a call-up to the country's World Cup squad and scoring a last minute equaliser against Morocco.
Getty Images - Getty Aspas was the hero as Spain levelled late on against Morocco
Aspas’ Liverpool career amounted to 15 appearances, most of which came at the start of the season while Luis Suarez served his suspension for biting.
They were his chance to impress but he was off the pace. Understandably Aspas spent the remainder of the campaign behind Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling.
He left Liverpool in the summer of 2014, joining Sevilla on loan. But given his lack of football over the previous year, it’s not entirely unsurprising his time in the south of Spain wasn’t successful.
Aspas wasn’t able to displace Carlos Bacca and Kevin Gameiro in the Sevilla side and made just four La Liga starts, scoring twice, before returning to Liverpool.
His confidence was low and the summer of 2015 was pivotal in Aspas’ career.
He needed to make the right move to reignite a promising career that had stalled.
And as the old saying goes, there’s no place like home.
Aspas returned, via Sevilla, to Celta Vigo for €5million. It was the club he had started his career and the one that he’d left for Liverpool two years earlier.
It was exactly what the 29-year-old needed. Back at the club he considered home, the team he’d supported as a kid, Aspas felt loved again.
Action Images Iago Aspas' troubled Liverpool career was summed up by one terrible corner
Getty Images The Spaniard scored the winner in Celta's 4-3 victory over Barcelona
He was welcomed back by the Celta fans with open arms and has been repaying those supporters with excellent performances and goals. Lots of goals.
His first season back in Galicia ended with Aspas, playing centrally, scoring 18 goals in all competitions and helping the club clinch a place in the Europa League.
But the best was yet to come. This season, under the guidance of Eduardo Berizzo, Aspas shined playing through the middle or out wide on the right flank.
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He is the player who, when the side are in a tough spot, steps up.
The talisman who scored the winner in a 4-3 victory over Barcelona and the opener in a 2-1 success over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the Copa del Rey.
Aspas can no longer, in Spain at least, be thought of as the man who wilts when the pressure is on. In England he still has work to do.
Scoring a spectacular goal at Wembley on his Spain debut went some way to reintroducing himself to the British audience.
And now he has been rewarded with inclusion in the World Cup squad.
Why is Iago Aspas in the Spain World Cup squad?
After being called up, Aspas said: "I came into the squad because of an injury to a team-mate and (Lopetegui) has given me the chance to keep coming.
"I would like to start all the games, me and anyone else in the squad, but it's to the coach's virtue that he thinks that I can help the team with just a few minutes on the pitch [as a substitute].'"
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Iago Aspas missed the decisive penalty as Russia eliminated Spain from the World Cup.
The hosts hung on in extra time to take Spain to penalties and dump the former World Champions out of the competition.
A Sergei Ignashevich own-goal gave Spain the lead inside 12 minutes, but Russia fought back and through Artem Dzyuba's penalty just before half-time.
Spain would dominate the second half and throughout extra-time, bossing possession and keeping Russia pinned back, but the hosts defended for their lives to force a penalty shoot-out.
Atletico Madrid midfielder Koko missed Spain's third penalty and Russia scored all four of theirs, meaning Aspas, who came on in extra time for former Chelsea striker Diego Costa, had to score to keep Spain in the competition, but his spot kick was well saved by Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.
It was a cruel blow for Aspas, who has resurrected his career since leaving Anfield.
(Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Aspas scored just once for Liverpool and was a figure of fun on Merseyside, with videos of THAT corner against Chelsea still circulating on social media.
However since moving back to La Liga, Aspas has scored 67 goals in 126 games and forced his way into the Spain squad, where he has scored six times in 12 appearances.
Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev’s save on Iago Aspas’ penalty kick took less than a second, but it still made for the ultimate swing of emotions for the Spanish forward.
Just before Russia pulled off the stunner of the World Cup with Sunday’s Round of 16 win over Spain in penalties, Aspas thought he had Akinfeev beat on his critical attempt from the penalty spot. He smiled just before Akinfeev saved the shot with his trailing leg.
The moment of the #WorldCup is Iago Aspas thinking he's nailed his pen and the smile instantly leaving his face #ESPRUS pic.twitter.com/efQbj9uAJi — Dan O'Reilly (@danjor41) July 1, 2018
Thank you, slow-motion replay.
Aspas was ready to go into celebration mode — he knew right away that Akinfeev guessed wrong. The Russian goalkeeper just didn’t give up on the shot and it paid off. Aspas’ smile quickly turned into disappointment.
Russia will face the winner of Denmark-Croatia in the quarterfinal.
There was another shock in the World Cup as Spain crashed out of the competition against Russia.
With Germany, Argentina and Portugal already out of the tournament, Spain would face fancied their chances of lifting their second World Cup.
And it looked as if they would seal their passage to the quarter-finals as a Sergey Ignashevich own goal gave them the lead after just 12 minutes.
But despite having the lions share of the possession, they could not make their dominance count as Russia’s defence held firm.
And the hosts punished Spain as Artyom Dzyuba converted from the penalty spot.
The game would go to penalties, with Spain unable to create any real chances of note for the remainder of the game.
And they would eventually succumb to the hosts on penalties, after Iago Aspas and Koke missed their spot-kicks.
It really was an awful day for Spain.
Although they had the majority of the possession, few will argue that they deserved to go through.
And there was one moment in the first half of extra time that summed their performance up.
With Spain on the attack, Aspas tripped over the feet of a Russian defender.
In attempting to get up, Isco then clattered into him, completely unaware he was there, sending both sprawling to the floor.
It really was a comical moment - and one that summed up their day.
Nothing worked for them against the hosts.
Few would have predicted them to go out to Russia, but they are going out with a whimper.
Sergio Ramos was understandably gutted after the game, but despite the result, he was happy with how his side performed in defeat.
"It's very hard," Ramos said after the game. "Whenever you are knocked out of a World Cup, it is very painful.
"The team did everything possible, to try and prove ourselves again. It was not to be.
"We could not do more -- we gave everything. A penalty was the only way they could cause us danger. In extra-time we did everything, again -- kept the ball.
"Penalties are a lottery -- and we lost today, but I am very proud of these players as captain."
"We have a team to keep dreaming," he said. "After all the criticism following the group stages, we have proven ourselves as a team again today.
"We will be back at big tournaments again. Some players will come, others will go, but we're always proud to represent this national team."
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