The two opponents repeated their duels from the qualification, in which the Spaniards won 3:1 at home and even 7:1 away.
La Roja followed up on the first stage of the championship, in which they were the only ones not to lose a point and not concede a single time.
Another record was broken by Lamine Yamal. At the age of 16 years and 353 days, he became the youngest player to appear in a Euro knockout match. He surpassed the record of England’s Jude Bellingham (18 years and 4 days at the last EC).
The youngster from Barcelona then became only the second under-18 player in the knockout phase of a major tournament after the seventeen-year-old Pelé at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.
“I’m very happy. We won, we advanced and I scored. Most importantly, we showed again that we are a strong team,” said Williams, who at 21 years and 354 days became Spain’s second-youngest goalscorer in the Euro knockout stages after Ferran Torres ( 21 years and 119 days against Croatia at EC 2020).
Georgia’s biggest star, Chvicha Kvaracchelija, pointed out that his team had already fulfilled their dream by advancing from the group. “In the first half we were a bit unlucky, then the match could have looked a little different. However, we have to admit that the Spanish were better,” he said.
The favorite started with a big onslaught, after the opening minutes the possession of the ball was in the ratio of 90:10 percent and the goalkeeper Mamardashvili started to claim the first saves.
But the very first dangerous action on the other side ended in a goal. In the 18th minute, Kakabadze ran down the right side and crossed to Kvaracchelija in front of the goal. This was defended by Le Normand and he knocked the ball into his own net.
The Spaniards continued to attack, Williams forced Mamardashvili into another excellent save. However, the Georgian goalkeeper still conceded after the break.
Rodri’s shot from behind the penalty area hit the goal. Morata stood in an offside position and VAR reviewed whether the Spanish striker had blocked the goalkeeper’s view, but the goal stood.
Right after the break, Kvaracchelija tried to surprise goalkeeper Simón, he barely crossed the halfway line, but he missed the goal with a long-range shot by about a meter and a half.
Mamardashvili then brilliantly deflected Yamal’s free kick. But the ball got back to the Spaniards and Yamal’s cross was used by Ruiz with his head.
The favorite already had the match fully under his control, he won 34:4 on shots and added two more goals. Ruiz’s pass was used by Williams, in the end Oyarzabal found Olmo in front of the penalty area, who hit the post exactly.
2024-06-30 21:45:30
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