Spain rHe broke the wall of the quarters of a great tournament that was resisting him since 2012. La Roja will be in the next round of the Eurocup after beating Croatia in a match in which the Red knew how to suffer and, above all, recover from everything to reach the quarterfinals.
Spain, with Gayá and Ferran Torres as novelties in the eleven, he went to the game to ‘eat’ a Croatia that is nothing more than a memory of the one that was runner-up in the World three years ago in Russia. By pressing very well the Croatian ball exit and playing the ball wonderfully, the Spaniards were passing over Croatia, which was limited to defending and to which only Modric He tried to give some clarity when the ball arrived, which was not enough.
Spain was doing everything well except scoring and that in football is little less than doing nothing. Kok tIt was 0-1 at the quarter of an hour in a head-to-head with the Croatian goalkeeper, but he found the foot of Livakovic who avoided the goal. Then they were Sarabia and Morata those who had chances, the latter in a header in which the ball hit the hand of Lifetime, but the referee did not indicate anything and the VAR did not correct him.
Everything was looking ahead for Spain but tragedy arrived. An uncomplicated back pass from Pedri to
Unai Simon It ended 1-0 after a resounding failure by the goalkeeper who, when he was going to control, saw how the ball hit him in the leg and ends up in the back of the net. It was the 20th minute and Croatia, without having fired a single shot between the three sticks, was already winning 1-0. A goal that, by the way, was given to Pedri at his own goal because he was the one who gave the pass to Unai Simón.
That much affected the selection and gave wings to Croatia that was around the second goal of the game. La Roja knew how to recover from that bad moment and returned to command in the game based on good football. The reward came in the 38th minute with the 1-1 of Sarabia in a play full of rebounds that perfectly reflected how much it costs Spain to score.
Go back Spain
La Roja managed to recover from the 0-1 blow and reach the break with 1-1 on the scoreboard. Those of Luis Enrique They came out in the second half with the same plan as the first, to be the protagonists of the game. They did so and this time, the goal was not long in coming. It was Azpilicueta eIn the 57th minute, he made it 1-2 after heading a perfect cross from Ferran Torres.
Spain had come back and justice had been done with what was being seen on the pitch. The Croats had no choice but to squeeze because they were out of the Eurocup. Spain, for its part, continued to do its thing, with the ball as the main argument. He even scored, but Morata's goal in the 72nd minute was disallowed for offside.
Croatian attempts to enter the game came to nothing with the goal dand Ferran Torres in the 77th minute of the game. The one from City received a long pass from Pau Torres that left Ferran alone before the Croatian goal and score 1-3 with which Spain practically sealed his pass to the quarterfinals of the European Championship.
Croatia draws and into extra time
Or so it seemed because from what seemed to reality there was a universe. Croatia scored 2-3 for Croatia in the 85th minute of Orsic. A goal of those so-called ghost, but it was clearly seen that he had entered and, in addition, the referee gave it after receiving the signal that it was a goal. Croatia already went up looking for a draw against Spain that they saw in the 92nd minute, Pasalic it put 3-3. La Roja, in seven minutes had gone from being in the quarterfinals of the Eurocup to having to dispute an extension.
The match, the tie was starting again, but it was only going to last half an hour. Or what is the same, the one who made the least mistake was going to be in the quarterfinals of the European Championship. And it was difficult not to be wrong because the party no longer followed any tactical rules. In that context, it was Croatia that started the overtime the best with two occasions, one of them very clear that saved Unai Simon with a great stop.
Spain was not cowed by that Croatian start and the figure of the criticized M appearedorata to score 3-4 in the 100th minute and put La Roja back in the quarterfinals of the Eurocup. A pass that consolidated Oyarzabal with the 3-5 in minute 103 with which the extra time break was reached. Croatia knew they had 15 minutes ahead of them to come back and went back to it as they had done in the final stretch of 90 minutes.
La Roja, this time, knew how to hold on and not let the Croats get away with it. The one that got away with it was Spain that even sent a ball to the post through the mediation of Dani Olmo. La Roja knew how to suffer, overcome everything to stay alive in the European Championship.
Croatia, 3
Livakovic; Juranovic (Brekalo, d. 74), Vida, Caleta-Car, Guardiol; Modric (Ivanusec, m. 114), Brozovic, Kovacic (Budimir, m. 79), Vlasic (Pasalic, m. 79), Rebic (Orsic, m. 67) and Petkovic (Kramaric, m. 46)
Spain, 5
Unai Simon; Azpilicueta, Eric García (Pau Torres, m. 71), Laporte, Gayà (Jordi Alba, m. 77); Koke (Fabián, m. 77), Busquets (Rodri, m. 101), Pedri, Ferran Torres (Oyarzabal, m. 88), Sarabia (Dani Olmo, m. 71) and Morata
Goals: 1-0, Pedri (p.p. m. 20); 1-1, Sarabia (m. 38); 1-2, Azpilicueta (m. 57); 1-3, Ferran Torres (d. 77); 2-3, Orsic (m. 85); 3-3, Pasalic (m. 92), 3-4, Morata (m. 100); 3-5, Oyarzabal (m. 103)
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey). Yellow to Brozovic (m. 73), Caleta-Car (m. 84)
Stadium. Copenhagen Parken