Soccer has a lot of change. Once a ball hits the stick and goes outside and another hits the stick and goes inside, that’s where the change lies and all this in ninety minutes. What does not usually change is the character and … both Spain and Luis Enrique remain the same. From a missed penalty, and they go five in a row, and a game recognizable by many novelties that were in the ‘eleven’, with the usual horizontality, with possession without creating clear arrivals, without medium-distance shots … a move of fortune, to a goal that allows everything to change and show the character of a team that is free from its ghosts. Even personally, with Laporte’s goal and his contribution in the attack being more leader in the opposite area than in their own area.
Spain opened the path of the goal and made five to a weak Slovakia. Something that could have happened against Sweden or Poland but that did not happen and filled everyone with doubts, except Luis Enrique. The coach brought out his character and returned with Morata at the helm and with his irreplaceable Pedri alongside Busquets. The forward received an extra dose of morale when he was nominated to take the penalty and, likewise, Busquets when he was substituted when the game was already on track. Believing in the group, taking the risk, accepting criticism and displaying the well-known virtues, La Roja has shown that in football everything is possible, and in this Euro it is seen every day.
Spain passes as second, when some gave it as the great loser of this ‘Euro’. It is true that one day it gives us a joy and another a displeasure, but it will always be a team with character, which will continue to propose a recognizable game, with desperate days either because the ball hits the post and goes in or out. Spain is once again a candidate with the same errors and the same virtues as a few days ago. This is soccer.
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