June 15 – Croatia must be sick of the sight of Spain. In the nearest the Euros has to a group of death, the Spanish emerged comfortable 3-0 victors in Berlin today. The win maintained their winning streak against Luka Modric and co.
The two teams played out one of the games of the tournament at EURO 2020 as Spain edged a round of 16 thriller 5-3 after extra time. They then beat Croatia again, this time on penalties, to win the 2023 Nations League.
The latest encounter was effectively over by half time as Spain raced into a 3-0 lead, much as Germany did against Scotland in the opening game.
Croatia’s midfield trio may have had 372 caps between them but for large parts of the game their aging legs couldn’t cope with the Spanish youthfulness, epitomised by winger Lamine Yamal who at 16 became the youngest player in tournament history.
After being pegged back early doors, the Croatians had actually just started to play their way back into the game when they conceded.
Alvaro Morata may not be everyone’s cup of tea but only Cristiano Ronaldo and a certain Michel Platini have scored more goals in the Euros and when the Spanish captain was played through on goal, he finished with aplomb.
On 32 minutes the lead was doubled, Yamal’s assist finding Fabian Ruiz who dribbled past two opponents with quick feet and wonderful balance before firing into the net via the tiniest of deflections.
Croatia are so often reliable at the back but having twice been punished, they were in deep peril.
They almost pulled one back when Marcelo Brozovic’s low drive was expertly pushed away by Unai Simon but although Lovro Majer was first to the ball, he could only find the side-netting.
They then had an even better chance to half the deficit when Josko Gvardiol’s dangerous cross went through the hands of goalkeeper Unai Simon. All it needed was a touch from Ante Budimir but from one yard out he somehow failed to make contact.
You can’t afford to let the Spanish off the hook twice and right on halftime it was game over as Dani Carvajal sneaked in between two defenders to poke home a Yamal freekick.
A string of Croatian substitutions followed, including that of 38-year-old Modric, but it was too little, too late for a team that had uncharacteristically lacked both intensity and concentration.
As the game fizzled out, Croatia even had a late penalty chalked off. Simon superbly pushed away substitute Bruno Petkovic’s spotkick – awarded after a VAR check – but when the loose ball was squared back to him, he turned it home to seemingly reduce the deficit.
The legions of Croatian fans who outnumbered the Spanish in the stands thought so too, only for the penalty to be ruled out for encroachment.
It kind of summed up Croatia’s day while for Spain, once all-conquering but without a major men’s trophy for over a decade, the revival could be on – as could the dream of making history by becoming the first country to win the Euros four times.
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