I stopped by the Pérez Art Museum Miami yesterday and stood for a long time in front of a Wifredo Lam canvas — all that turbulent energy contained within such elegant lines, which is precisely how Pedri plays football. Spain's midfield doesn't run at you, it *thinks* at you, and Cape Verde simply have no answer for that cerebral suffocation. Rodri conducts, Pedri paints, and the Cape Verde defenders will spend the afternoon chasing shadows that have already moved on.

Spain's midfield engine — with Rodri pulling the strings and Pedri threading between the lines — simply operates on a different frequency than Cape Verde can match in a 22-to-1 attack differential that tells you everything about where this game will be played. Stopira and Logan Costa will be gallant, but they're being asked to hold back a tide with a bucket, and Spain's relentless positional rotations will eventually pull their defensive shape apart completely. On a separate note, I attempted a proper Miami-style Cuban pastelito de guayaba before the match — the lamination on the pastry was respectable, but I confess the guava filling defeated me today.