The Spanish El Matador defeats Croatia by three goals

The two teams also met in the last edition of the continental championship, and Spain also won 5-3 after extra time.

The two teams entered the match with high confidence after their remarkable results in preparation for the tournament, as the Spanish team defeated its Andorran counterpart 5-0, then the Northern Irish team 5-1, while Croatia defeated Portugal 2-1 in the latter’s home and Macedonia 3-0.

Young winger Lamine Jamal participated as a starter, becoming the youngest player to participate in a match in the history of the European Cup finals.

Jamal, who shined for Barcelona last season, is 16 years and 338 days old, after the previous record was held by Polish Katzper Kozlowski, who played in the finals of the 2020 edition, which was held in the summer of 2021, at the age of 17 years and 246 days.

The Spanish team was the better side at the beginning of the match, and the first serious attempt was a creeping shot by Morata that was easily controlled by Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic (7).

Morata succeeded in opening the scoring when he received a perfect forehand ball deep into the Croatian defense from Reus, breaking the offside trap, going alone with the goalkeeper and shooting with his left hand to his right (29).

Royce quickly added the second goal after he dribbled past two defenders inside the area and shot it with his left hand into the net to the left of the goalkeeper (32).

Croatia almost reduced the gap directly through Saudi Al-Nasr midfielder Marcelo Brozovic, but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Unai Simon and prepared for Lovro Mayer, who shot it into the outside net.

A second opportunity arose against Croatia when English Manchester City defender Jusko Gvardiol shot a ball “on the fly” with his left hand that passed in front of the goal gate (41).

The Spanish national team dealt the final blow to Croatia when Real Madrid defender Carvajal scored the third goal when he received a perfect cross from Jamal and dunked it into the net from close range in stoppage time (45+2).

The Croatian team applied pressure at the beginning of the second half to save face, while the Spanish team relied on quick counterattacks, including Jamal almost adding the fourth goal had it not been for the ingenuity of the Croatian goalkeepers in stopping his attempt (52).

Josip Stanisic shot a powerful ball from a short distance towards the Spanish goal, but defender Mark Cucurella saved it with a sacrificial shot (54).

The Spanish team then succeeded in managing the match through its ability to possess the ball, but lost the efforts of its captain, Morata, due to injury in the last quarter of an hour.

Croatia had a golden opportunity to reduce the gap when the Spanish goalkeeper made a mistake in clearing one of the balls and it reached Bruno Petkovic, but Rodri blocked him from behind, so the English referee Michael Oliver awarded a penalty kick, which Petkovic himself took and Simon blocked before Ivan Perisic passed it towards Petkovic again and the latter followed it into the net. However, the referee canceled the goal after referring to the video assistant referee because Perisic committed a violation (78).

The Spanish national team is considered a candidate to qualify after it defeated Italy and Croatia in the semi-finals (2-1) and final (on penalties) of the European Nations League in June 2023.

By winning the continental championship in the Netherlands, Spain, led by coach Luis de la Fuente, returned to the podium for the first time since winning the 2012 European Cup.

Spain prepared for the continental finals with strong performances, as it defeated Andorra 5-0 thanks to a hat-trick by Mikel Oyarsabal, then defeated Northern Ireland 5-1 thanks to another goal from the Real Sociedad striker and a brace by Barcelona midfielder Pedri, who showed that he had returned to his previous level after injuries disrupted his season.

De La Fuente touched on Saturday’s confrontation by telling the Continental Union website, “I really admire the mentality of the Croatian players because they are an example of national pride, a sense of solidarity, and pride in the national team,” adding, “Our first goal is always to be competitors and to be in a position to win.”

He continued, “I am convinced of our chance to compete for the title, but there can only be one champion and there are many national teams that can win the cup.”

The Italian national football team began the campaign to defend its European champion title with a difficult victory over Albania 2-1 on Saturday at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund at the end of the first round of the second group competitions for the edition held in Germany.

Albania scored early, specifically after 23 seconds, through Sassuolo’s Italian striker, Nadeem Bayrami, in the fastest goal in the history of the tournament, but the champions of the Old Continent responded quickly and turned the score around with two goals from Inter players, the league champions, Alessandro Bastoni (11) and Nicolo Barella (16).

Spain topped the group on goal difference against Italy, after defeating Croatia 3-1, also in Berlin.

Italy is awaiting a fiery summit against Spain in the second round on Thursday in Gelsenkirchen, while Albania will play Croatia on Wednesday in Hamburg.

Italy achieved the most important match in the easiest match in the group by winning the three points before its two hot summits against the Spaniards and the Croats.

Italy was the better side for most of the match and was able to overcome the early shock it received from the Albanians and succeeded in turning the tables with two goals in five minutes. It could have increased its lead on more than one occasion had it not been for the recklessness of its attackers and the brilliance of the Albanian and Brentford English goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha, who shone on more than one occasion. .

Albania succeeded in opening the scoring after 23 seconds when Bayrami took advantage of a ball from Federico De Marco following a throw-in he tried to play with his Inter Milan teammate Alessando Bastoni. He prepared it for himself from close range and shot it powerfully into Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal.

The fastest goal in the tournament was scored by Russian Dmitry Kirichenko when he opened the scoring against Greece after 67 seconds on June 20, 2004 in Portugal during the 2004 European Cup.

Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini almost equalized immediately when he received a ball inside the area and shot it near the left post (2).

Italy succeeded in achieving an equalizer through Bastoni, who rose high to pass a cross to Pellegrini, who went for a corner kick and exchanged the ball with De Marco (11).

Barella succeeded in adding the second goal with a strong shot “on the fly” with his right from the edge of the area, taking advantage of a weak ball that was deflected by South Korean Gwangju striker Yasser Asani (16).

Goalkeeper Strakosha and his left goal post prevented Inter midfielder Davide Frattese from adding the third goal in private after a wonderful pass from Atalanta Bergamo’s Gianluca Scamaca inside the area (34).

Skamaka wasted a golden opportunity for reinforcement when he received a header behind the defense in front of the goal, so he prepared it for himself and shot it powerfully, hitting the feet of goalkeeper Strakosha and turning into a corner (40).

Assane tried his luck with a powerful shot from outside the area over the French goalkeeper of Paris Saint-Germain (44).

Pellegrini almost did it with a header from close range after a cross pass to Juventus winger Federico Chiesa (45+2).

Italy continued its advantage in the second half and looked for the third goal to kill the match, and Chiesa almost achieved his goal with a curling shot from inside the area that passed near Strakosha’s far right post (60).

De Marco shot a ball from outside the area into Strakosha’s hands (79).

Turkish Sivasspor striker Rey Manai, a replacement for English Fulham striker Arnado Broya (87), almost shocked the Italians at the end of the match when he received a cross inside the area, so he prepared it on his chest and played it with his right, and it passed in front of the empty goal without finding one of his teammates to follow it inside (90).

Italy realizes that mistakes are prohibited since its first match, which seems well suited to gaining the necessary confidence before its two very difficult matches against Spain and Croatia.

What increases the importance of the victory over Albania, which is competing in only the second major finals in its history, is that the top two teams in each of the six groups qualify for the quarter-finals, in addition to the four best teams in third place.

For Italian national team star Federico Chiesa, the goal is “to show the world our true colors in the European Cup after the disappointment of missing the 2022 World Cup,” adding, “Let’s see what we can achieve.”

It is certain that the task of retaining the continental title will not be easy at all, especially since no one was able to achieve this except the golden generation of Spain, which won the historic treble: European Cup 2008 – World Cup 2010 – European Cup 2012.

Chiesa is one of the few remaining members of the squad that led Italy to win the European Cup in the summer of 2021, and he and Nicolo Barella form the pillar on which Spalletti relies in this tournament, but the latter’s participation in only the second official confrontation with Albania, after the first in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers (Italy won Home and away), is not decided yet, despite Spalletti’s optimism about the Inter star’s injury situation.

Squadra Azzurra’s task will not be easy against Albania, which is counting on its Brazilian coach Silvinho and ten of its professional players in the Italian League, in addition to the audience that will fill “more than half of the stands” of Signal Iduna Park (BVB Stadion Dortmund is accredited in the current tournament). According to what the head of the country’s football federation, Armand Duca, said in an interview with Sky, saying, “The Italy match has a special character. We will play in Dortmund, probably the most important match in our lives.”

He continued, “We will be very happy if we qualify from the group, but we will be happy in any case just because we participate in the European Cup.”