LUIS ENRIQUE revealed he didn’t realize Spain was about to make a shock early World Cup stoppage.
Then he joked that he would have had a “heart attack” had he known about the situation.
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Spain scraped through Group E on goal difference ahead of Germany on a chaotic evening in Qatar.
Enrique’s side only led Japan trailed 2-1 early in the second half.
Just minutes later, Costa Rica completed their own surprise turnaround to lead Germany by the same scoreline.
And if everything had remained the same, Spain would have joined Germany on the next flight home.
However, La Roja was helped by the 2014 champions who went on to win 4-2.
It meant Spain, despite their loss to Japan, came through in second place to set up a duel with Morocco in the last 16, but Germany fell out.
And Enrique admitted in his press conference that he wasn’t aware of all the permutations – but was glad that he was.
The Spanish boss said “We were knocked out?
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“I wasn’t paying attention to that other match, when did that happen?
“I didn’t know this.
“If I had found out, I would have had a heart attack.”
Japan’s winning goal had an air of controversy as the ball barely stayed in – despite the camera angles looking like it had gone out.
Fans and broadcasters were left confused FIFA has not provided proof that the ball was still in it when Kaoru Mitoma somehow pulled it back for Ao Tanaka to finish.
Even Enrique initially thought it might have crossed the line as his squad is now likely to avoid a tricky one World Cup quarterfinal against Brazil.
The former Barcelona chief said: “From my corner, the ball was clearly half out. I couldn’t say more than that because of the speed.
“I was worried about scoring, but there was always the possibility that it would go out.
“If it wasn’t out and it wasn’t a goal I wouldn’t have been disappointed, but in the end it was a goal, so that was great.”
He added: “In football you either deserve it or you don’t and we didn’t deserve it. I’m not happy at all.
“I would have liked to be on top and win, but in five minutes Japan scored two. We were dismantled.
“We had no danger in the first half and at half time I told them to be careful because they had nothing to lose.
“We collapsed and they could have scored two more goals. I’m not happy at all.
“I never celebrate defeats, so we have nothing to celebrate. We qualified, but I have nothing to celebrate.”