Who was to tell the Spanish national team that they would complete an impeccable group stage at the Euros. Three games, three wins, five goals in favor and none against. Ranked mathematically as first in the group at the end of the second day, with the crossing guaranteed against a third ranked in the round of 16 and passing over renowned rivals such as Croatia and Italy, who were condemned to play the classification against each other in a last agonizing match that finally fell in favor of the Italians, who equalized in the 97th minute with a goal that guaranteed them second place in the group.
The last duel of the first phase was against Albania. while the Red nothing was at stake, the Balkans, who started with a point, were playing for the classification. Spain allowed themselves the luxury of going out to play with substitutes, but this, far from relaxing the team, activated it even more. Eleven players came out eager to vindicate themselves and show that they had not traveled all the way to Germany for tourism. In the end, Ferran Torres’ goal would be enough. It was a perfect day to make rotations, to give rests and for the starters to have a few minutes to not lose their form. An official training. Blaugrana players Fermín and Lamine Yamal played in the final stretch.
Luis de la Fuente did what was expected: rotations in the starting team. massive He changed ten of eleven footballers, including the goalkeeper. Aymeric Laporte was the only one who repeated in the eleven. The coach is one of the great winners in this initial section of the European Cup. A year and a half has passed since La Rioja took the reins of the Red in a climate of skepticism and mistrust. It premiered with political appeals, as if it prioritized avoiding controversy over making the best team possible. But over the months, behind the facet of a manager, the skill of a coach has emerged who knows the Spanish base very well, and has extracted the maximum possible juice from it. The selection is a compact block that competes as a team. The only doubt is whether the lack of experience and also the lack of more gunpowder in attack will weigh too much in the qualifiers. To focus on the three goals against Croatia and not on the multiple missed opportunities against Italy – sixteen shots on goal, eight between the posts and only one goal – would be to lose sight of the world.
Ferran Torres is one of those who took advantage of the match to vindicate himself. The Barça winger went from being a fixture in Luis Enrique’s scheme to having a secondary role with the change of coach. The shark took advantage of a magnificent pass in space by Dani Olmo – a player who is also in the Blaugrana orbit – to beat Strakosha with a cross shot that hit the post before going in. It was his twentieth goal with the absolute. A target that calmed the Albanian momentum, which had gone all out, setting up a one-on-one match.
It was not the brilliant game of the second day against Italy. It was noticeable that the best players were missing. But she was effective, not giving the ball away, dominating possession and feeling solid in all facets of the game, especially after the goal. Spain were in control, and only suffered for the result, shyly, in the final stretch, when Albania, who looked on the street, made an obligatory step forward. He had one last chance, with Ramadani’s shot from the penalty spot saved by David Raya with a stretch for the photograph. Job done, let’s wait for the eighth round opponent.
2024-06-24 20:56:36
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