He’s like the last Mohican on his team. As the only remaining of the 2010 world champions, he has survived the personnel retreading and, unlike such prominent colleagues as Sergio Ramos or Gerard Piqué, he can once again take part in the title mission this winter in Qatar: Sergio Busquets.

The Spaniard captain is now 34 years old and has won everything there is to win in international football. And that he is still incredibly important for his team, which meets Germany on Sunday (8 p.m.) he proved on Wednesday evening at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha.

He was never the fastest, but always an important flywheel between defensive balance and offensive attacking play. With his skills, he may be the last real six of his kind. One who has an incredibly good feeling and can anticipate many situations on the field.

In the game against Costa Rica, Busquets showed that ability in many scenes. While Germany is looking for a leader more than ever after the 1:2 (1:0) against Japan, Spain has found him for years. As soon as the eleven regular players were introduced, the captain received the greatest applause from the Spanish fan delegation in the 40,023 spectators. And on the field he is the driver behind the two wonderful talents Gavi, 18, and Pedri, 19, who could almost be his children and who play slightly offset in front of him in the half positions. With the formation that is also used at FC Barcelona, ​​Spain has the game under control from the first to the last minute.

However, as so often, the others spark a spectacle: Leipzig’s Dani Olmo, for example, who also scored the first goal in his World Cup debut (11th). It is the Spaniards’ 100th goal in global title fights. Or Marco Asensio, who completes a wonderful combination via Busquets and Jordi Alba in the bottom right corner (21st). Or Ferran Torres, who safely converts a penalty kick into a half-time lead (31st). In that form, that much is clear after 45 minutes, Spain is a big hurdle for Hansi Flick’s team that can hardly be overcome.

The team has only scored three goals in the first half at a World Cup: in 1934 in a 3-1 win against Brazil. And something else impressive: Spain scored two goals with the first four shots on goal. Germany had 25 shots on goal in the previous group game against Japan, but only got the penalty.

After Torres made it 4-0 (54′) and 63 minutes played, Busquets was even allowed to leave the field. Save energy for the next groundbreaking tasks. In any case, he has big plans for these global title fights. “We come with great expectations,” Busquets told “Marca” ahead of his fourth World Cup tournament. “I think we’re a team that’s hard to beat.” He’s certainly convinced of that himself – and has therefore counted on Spain’s second title win at a World Cup. In a guessing game that he launched within the squad. “We win, of course. In the final against France.”

From the bench, the leader, who has been loyal to FC Barcelona since 2005 and has played 463 league games for the Catalans, still sees Gavi’s 5-0 (75th). The young star could soon become his successor, with two assists and one goal he made a strong World Cup debut. Unlike Busquets, who has only been granted four goals in 129 international matches, Gavi also exudes immense goal danger. Substitutes Carlos Soler (90′) and Alvaro Morata (90′, 2) then managed to score to make it 7-0.

In the end, however, even for the Spaniards the clear and never endangered victory at the start of the World Cup is something special: For the first time since 2006 (then 4-0 against Ukraine) the team of coach Luis Enrique managed to win the start of the global tournament again.