Copenhagen, June 29, LETA. The Spanish footballers made it to the quarterfinals of the final of the European Football Championship on Monday after winning overtime in an eight-goal match.
In Copenhagen, Spain beat Croatia 5: 3 (1: 1, 2: 2, 2: 0).
The winners were Pavlo Sarabija, Sesar Aspilikveta, Ferrans Torress, Alvaro Morata and Mikels Ojarsabals, while Croatia was defeated by Mislav Oršič and Mario Pašalič, and Pedri threw the ball into his own goal for Spain.
The game, in which Spaniard Pedri, born on November 25, 2002, became the youngest at the age of 18 to enter the field in the main round of the European Championship in the eighth final, began with the expected control of the ball by the Spanish national team.
In the 16th minute, the first dangerous moment at the Croatian goal ended with Koke coming face to face against the Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovich, but on the ground he hit the goalkeeper who kicked the ball with his foot.
With 19 minutes played, Domagojs Vida nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar.
In the next minute, Croatia took the lead without the participation of its footballers. Pedri from the center of the field, Pedri played back to the goalkeeper Unajam Simonam. Simons, looking for a pass, didn’t hit the ball, climbing it into the goal – 1: 0 in favor of Croatia.
In the 25th minute, Nikola Vlašičs hit the corner from the corner of the Spanish goalkeeper field.
In the 38th minute, Spain equalized the result. Although the Spanish territorial and ball control advantage had decreased compared to the start of the match, after a long stay in the Croatian penalty area and Jose Gaia’s kick, which was repelled by Livakovich, Sarabia hit the ball from the goal six-meter – 1: 1.
In the 57th minute after Torres’s center from the left, Aspilikveta scored his first goal in the national team, sending the ball to the right corner – 2: 1.
After 67 minutes, a mistake by the home side’s left defense allowed Joško Gvardiola to get through. He outclassed the home side’s keeper, adding another goal for the visitors.
72 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 – 5 as Alvaro Moratas finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick.
A minute later, the first yellow card was shown in the match, when the Croatian Marcelo Brozovič climbed into the hand of Kok on the side line of the field.
It seemed as though Torress won the game on the left 77 minutes into the match, and Guvardiolu made the save 3 – 1 with a free kick that went just wide of the top left corner.
However, the Croats played with the help of changed players. In the 85th minute, Croatia regained one goal with Oršiča, who came on the field in the 67th minute, from a close distance – 2: 3. In the second minute of the match compensation time, when Pašaličs equalized the result from the air with the head after Oršičs’ pass.
Croatia seemed to have done its five shifts better than Spain. In the second minute of the extra time, the ball bounced off the edge of the Spanish penalty area near Oršiča, whose good shot flew just above the cross in the far corner.
Simons’s Andreja Kramariča tried his best to narrow the score with a well placed free kick, but it wasn’t quite good enough and Dani Olmo managed to block the shot.
However, in the 100th minute of the game, the Spaniards took the lead again. After 71 minutes, Olmo came on the right from the right Morata penalty area, the ball was technically taken right by neutralizing Josipu Brekalo, and left the ball from the air from the left 4: 3.
Another three minutes later, after another excellent pass from Olmo, one against Ojarsabals got to Livakovich, who technically handled the ball, not allowing two Croatian defenders to reach it, and sent the ball into the goal. Livakovich hit the ball, but was unable to repel – 5: 3 in favor of Spain, the Spaniards scored a two-goal lead for the second time.
Ante Budimirs caught everyone off guard with a great opening pass – but unfortunately Simona was as surprised by the move as anybody else, and managed to miss the extraordinary opportunity.
With 120 minutes played, Olmo nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar.
The Croatian footballers won second place in sub-group D, where they lost 0: 1 to England, fought a draw 1: 1 with the Czech Republic and beat Scotland 3: 1 in the decisive game. Ivan Perišič had scored two goals for the Croatians, but due to a positive Covid-19 test he was forced to go into self-isolation and did not go to the venue of the eighth final match.
Spain started the championship with dominance over Sweden, but the match ended in a draw 0: 0. After that, another draw 1: 1 against Poland, but in the final and decisive game, the Spaniards defeated Slovakia 5: 0, winning second place in subgroup E. Pavlo Sarabia and Herard Moreno were the most productive for the Spaniards with two assists before the quarterfinals.
Due to the warnings, defender Dejan Lovren could not help the Croatian national team.
Spain, which is a three-time European champion, is the only team to have won two titles in a row (2008 and 2012). The Spaniards are also 1984 vice-champions. The finalists of the 2018 World Cup in the European Championships had twice reached the quarter-finals.
Of the eight games between the two teams, four had been won by Spain, three by Croatia, but one match had ended in a draw. Both teams met in the subgroups of the previous two finals. In 2012, the Spaniards won 1-0, scoring the goal in the 88th minute for Hesus Navas. Four years later, the Croatians won 2: 1, thanks to Pericis’ accurate shot in the 87th minute.
The winner of this game will meet the winner of the current French and Swiss match in the quarterfinals on July 2 in St. Petersburg. This game in Bucharest will start when it will be in Latvia at 22. The match will be broadcast live on TV6.
Two other pairs of the quarterfinals are already known, where Belgium and Italy will meet in Munich on July 2, and Baku will be the opponent of the Czech and Danish national teams on July 3.
At the end of the eighth final, England will fight Germany in London on Tuesday, and Ukraine will face Sweden in Glasgow.
The quarter-finals will take place on July 2 and 3, the semi-finals on July 6 and 7, and the final match is expected on July 11.
The final tournament of the 2021 European Championship will take place in 11 European cities until July 11. The continent’s strongest team will be determined at Wembley Stadium in London. The revamped Wembley Stadium will host the national team title match for the first time in history, but its predecessor once played in the 1966 World Cup final and the 1996 European Championship final.
Five years ago, Portugal was crowned European Champion, beating France in the final match in Paris with a score of 1: 0.
In the final tournament of the European Championship, 24 teams are divided into six subgroups of four each. The two best teams automatically qualified for the first round or the eighth final of the elimination tournament, as well as the four best third place winners.
A total of 51 games will be played in this European Championship. When there were 16 more teams in the tournament, 31 matches had to be played.
Composition of the Spanish national football team for the final of the European Championship:
goalkeepers: David de Hea (Manchester United, England), Unay Simon (Bilbao Athletic), Robert Sanchez (Brighton and Hava Albion, England);
defenders: Jose Gay (Valencia), Erik Garcia, Aimerik Laport (both City of Manchester), Jorge Alba (Barcelona), Diego Llorente (Leeds United, England), Pau Torress (Villarreal) , Sesar Aspilikveta (London Chelsea, England);
midfielders: Fabians Ruiss (Naples, Italy), Sergio Buskett (Barcelona), Rodrigo Ernandess (Manchester City, England), Koke (Madrid’s Atletico), Tiagu Alcantara (Liverpool, England), Ferrans Torress (Manchester City, England), Marcos Ljorente (Madrid Atletico), Dani Olmo (Leipzig, Germany), Rodri (Manchester City, England), Pavlo Sarabia (Paris Saint-Germain), France ), Adam Traore (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England);
attackers: Mikel Ojarsabal (Real Sociedad of San Sebastian), Herard Moreno (Villarreal), Alvaro Morata (Juventus of Turin, Italy), Pedri (Barcelona).
Composition of the Croatian national football team for the final of the European Championship:
vārtsargi: Lovre Kaliničs (Splitas “Hajduk”), Dominiks Livakovičs (Zagrebas “Dinamo”), Simons Sluga (“Luton Town”, England);
guards: Domagoy Vida (Istanbul “Besiktas”, Turkey), Dejan Lovren (St. Petersburg “Zenith”, Russia), Shime Vralsalk (Madrid “Atletico”, Spain), Born Barishich (Glasgow “Rangers”, Scotland), Duje Chalal (Olympique in Marseille, France), Josip Juranovich (Legia in Warsaw, Poland), Domagoy Bradaric (Lille, France), Mile Škorič (Osijek), Josko Gvardiol (Osasuna, Spain);
midfielders: Lucca Modrich (Real Madrid, Spain), Mateo Covačic (London Chelsea, England), Marcelo Brozovich (Milan Inter, Italy), Milan Badel (Genoa, Italy), Mario Pasalich (Bergamo) Atalanta “, Italy), Nikola Vlašič (Moscow CSKA, Russia), Luka Ivanušec (Zagreb” Dinamo “);
Attackers: Ivan Pericich (Inter Milan, Italy), Andrei Kramarich (Hoffenheim, Germany), Ante Rebich (AC Milan, Italy), Josip Brecalo (Wolfsburg, Germany), Bruno Petkovich, Mislav Orchic ( both Dinamo of Zagreb), Ante Budimir (Osasuna, Spain).
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