ATLANTA, United States, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Lamine Yamal immediately made his presence felt in his first start at the FIFA World Cup, as his maiden goal helped Spain crush Saudi Arabia 4-0 in the second Group H game here on Sunday.
Spain suffered a surprise goalless draw against Cabo Verde in its opening match, with Yamal coming off the bench as a second half substitute, while Saudi Arabia also tied with Uruguay 1-1.
La Roja made four changes to the starting line-up as Yamal started with Dani Olmo, Alex Baena and Pedro Porro, while Salem Aldawsari led Saudi Arabia's attack.
Spain and Saudi Arabia have played each other once at the World Cup. The nations faced off at Germany 2006, with the European side winning 1-0 thanks to a Juanito goal.
The Euro champion had an aggressive start and broke the deadlock in the 10th minute when Mikel Oyarzabal rolled across from the left, and Yamal perfectly timed his run to slide it in at the back post.
Spain doubled the lead in the 21st minute when a corner created chaos, Oyarzabal managed on target with a left-footed strike.
Oyarzabal bagged the brace three minutes later when Porro's cross found Marc Cucurella, who flicked it to Olmo to nod for Oyarzabal to cushion it home.
The Real Sociedad striker had the chance to complete a hat-trick in the 36th minute but only saw his attempt smack the bar.
Luis de la Fuente dropped Yamal and Oyarzabal at the half-time, but it couldn't stop Spain scoring straight after the break as Cucurella's attempt forced Hassan Altambakti to score an own goal.
Spain continued its dominance but failed to add another. Ferran Torres had found the back of the net in the dying minutes, but it was chalked off after a lengthy VAR check.
Spain faces Uruguay in the last group game while Saudi Arabia takes on Cabo Verde.
