DBasia.news – The journey of the Spanish national team was quite colorful at the 2020 European Cup. From the beginning before ‘battling’ in the European Cup, the calling of the names of players in the La Furia Roja squad by Luis Enrique caused a big question.
Enrique was highlighted when he did not call up experienced defender and Spain captain Sergio Ramos on the grounds due to being unfit as last season he missed playing for Real Madrid a lot.
Moreover, Enrique only called two central strikers into the squad, namely Alvaro Morata and Gerard Moreno. Sure enough, both of them became a concern after Spain’s front line was dragging to score goals.
Moreno, 29, scored 23 goals in 33 LaLiga games with Villarreal last season, leading the club to the Europa League title, but has struggled to score in the European Cup. Especially with Morata who continues to be in the spotlight.
The Juventus striker even received threats from unscrupulous supporters who attacked his family for having difficulty converting chances into goals. All of that was the accumulation of Spain’s ups and downs in the group phase which consisted of Sweden, Poland and Slovakia.
Spain’s first two matches against Sweden and Poland ended in a goalless draw and the score was 1-1 (Morata scored against Poland). They then won 5-0 against Slovakia from two own goals and goals from Aymeric Laporte, Pablo Sarabia, Ferran Torres.
The same situation happened against Croatia in the top 16. Spain had possession and went 3-1 up until 77 minutes from goals by Sarabia, Cesar Azpilicueta and Ferran Torres, but Croatia leveled it 3-3 with goals from Mislav Orsic and Mario Articleic.
It was only in extra time that the individual quality and depth of the squad made the difference. Spain won a dramatic 5-3 from two additional goals from Alvaro Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal.
Missed Opportunity against Switzerland
Most recently playing against Switzerland at the Krestovsky Stadium, Friday (02/07) evening WIB in the quarter-final phase. The match ended in a 1-1 draw in normal time and Spain won 3-1 on penalties.
Spain headed to the semifinals but there were interesting facts from the match against Switzerland.
Spain dominated possession 73% of the ball, releasing 28 attempted kicks, 10 on target, but their goal against Switzerland came from Denis Zakaria’s own goal. Switzerland even played with 10 players when Remo Freuler was sent off in the 77th minute.
What happened to those 28 shots and 10 chances on target?
“Today’s lesson is you have to be lucky. When we conceded we thought we only had one shot on target in the whole game! We just didn’t have a good finish,” Spanish football expert Guillem Balague told BBC Sport.
Spain had a good attack and 69 more than any other team in the tournament, 235 times more than England, and have scored the most corners. So far Spain have completed 3,856 passes, 1,515 more than any other team.
Morata did not move in Russia and was replaced by Moreno. Moreno has had six shots since he came on but failed to score, failing to convert any chances in extra time. Kylian Mbappe (France) has not scored with so many attempted kicks (14).
Spain will face the team they defeated in the final of Euro 2012, Italy with a landslide score of 4-0, in the semifinals of Euro 2020. Italy’s strong defense, which has conceded two goals so far, will be a test of Spain’s playing efficiency.
“If Luis Enrique had his own way, they would continue to play offensively when conceding goals like this game, but the midfielders are stiff (not creative) and also no penetration,” added Balague.
“We didn’t manage the game well and sometimes we weren’t very brave. You don’t plan the route to the semi-finals that way, but that’s what happened.”
“And somehow we are in the semi-finals. We seem to find a way to do it, with the mentality, by dominating the ball.”
Luckily for Spain and Enrique, Moreno and Morata found it difficult to score, but Spain’s taps came from a variety of players at the back and up front. Spain have six different goalscorers, and only one team has ever scored as many as eight in European Cup history.
“We had a lot of chances, yes. But here, as in every game so far, we are the winning team,” added Moreno.
“We will solve our mistakes by working on the training ground. You make mistakes and the test is mental strength. Right now I feel the liberation that we have won.”
“Otherwise, I think that mistake will play in my mind.”