In the tough Group B, Spain made a statement at the start of the EURO. Luis de la Fuente’s team deservedly and confidently won 3-0 against Croatia, a World Cup semi-finalist two years ago. The Iberians have impressively underlined their ambitions.
After a long, lukewarm first half in terms of chances, the Spanish offensive was able to delight the audience in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium after just under half an hour:
- 29 minutes: It is a stroke of genius from ManCity player Rodri that paves the way for Spain to take the lead. With a perfectly timed through ball, he sets up Alvaro Morata, who coolly scores to make it 1-0.
- 32nd minute: Curtain up for Fabian Ruiz. The PSG legionnaire is played in front of the Croatian penalty area and then goes on a solo run. He circles around Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic as if they were extras and hits the bottom right corner between defender Josip Sutalo’s legs – 2-0.
Croatia punished coldly
Croatia, on the other hand, only became dangerous offensively immediately after conceding both goals. After the 0-1, it was Mateo Kovacic who failed with a low shot against Unai Simon. A little later, Marcelo Brozovic was also thwarted by the Spanish goalie. In the 41st minute, Ante Budimir sailed just past the ball after a shot-like pass to the far post from Josko Gvardiol.
And so, just before half-time, it was Spain who were successful again. Child prodigy Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest European Championship player of all time by starting at 16 years and 338 days, launched a half-high cross into the penalty area to Dani Carvajal, who deflected the ball to make it 3-0 and celebrated his first international goal.
Not successful from the penalty spot either
Shortly after the break, Yamal was once again in the spotlight. After some preparatory work by Barça teammate Pedri, the youngster had the chance to make himself the youngest goalscorer at the European Championships, free in front of Dominik Livakovic, and thus replace the Swiss Johan Vonlanthen, who has held this record since 2004. But Yamal was thwarted by the brilliantly reacting Croatia goalkeeper.
In general, however, the second half belonged to the Croatians, who would have deserved a consolation goal in view of their efforts. But the story from the first half repeated itself: a goal simply would not come. Bruno Petkovic, who had previously been fouled by Rodri in the penalty area, also failed to score from the penalty spot. The ball did end up in the goal after his follow-up shot, but because Ivan Perisic had run into the penalty area too early, this did not count.
This is how it continues
Spain’s EURO clash is against defending champion Italy on Thursday evening at 9 p.m. Croatia will be under pressure to play Albania the day before at 3 p.m. You can watch both duels live on SRF.