For a crib optimist like Luis Enrique, the match against Croatia It must have been a difficult exercise because his team received blows of all colors and still resisted not to kiss the canvas. The Asturian, after the game, breathed with his players, smiled and, above all, made a clear message: “We have learned a lesson.”
Lucho never stopped believing. Not even with the failure of Unai
Simon in the 1-0 or with the tie to three that sent the party to the extension. He was already blindly confident of the inward victory in the dressing room and that was the attitude he showed from the outward door. Although he did self-criticism.
“We are not going to exaggerate, our mistake was to believe that with 3-1 we all had it done, we are not about to defend and back down, that was the mistake. But football has done justice and rewarded us because it has allowed us to defend the last ten minutes of overtime with the ball ”.
As for one of the key plays of the game, that of the error of Unai Simón in the first goal, Luis Enrique took the iron away from the matter and only gave importance to the great character of the goalkeeper who knew how to rebuild himself. “What of Unai
Simon has been an example for all. For his teammates and for all those who start playing soccer. It has shown that you don't have to think about mistakes or successes, but rather about attempts, ”said Luis Enrique.
A Luis Enrique who once again pointed out this “great topic” which is that “this team is a family, but it is the truth. I think so. And when a team thinks only of the word 'team' and not of the word 'ego' that begins with the same letter, then these things happen ”.
Still he confessed that the level of nerves of the game was excessive, although the end can do everything. “Today has been excessive. I was almost swallowed by the dragon. If the ending is this, I'm ready for more because the ending is so beautiful … I don't know if my family and friends will be able to, but I sure will. The strange thing is that the game gave us a second chance, but we took advantage of it and here we are, “he added.
Finally, the work of Alvaro
Morata that, against Croatia, he was one of the players who made the most kilometers.
“It is the speech that I have been saying to you for months. We are not a selection that depends on a player. I don't think there is a player who doesn't value or admire someone like Álvaro Morata. He is a forward that we have to value very much. It means a lot that it is Spanish, “he said. Lewis
Enrique.