Euro 2020: Spain beats Croatia in eight-ball thriller | Euro2020 News

Alvaro Morata defeated Croatia 5-3 after overtime to enter the quarter-finals of the 2020 European Cup.

Spanish forward Alvaro Morata helped the team beat Croatia 5-3 after overtime on Monday, entering the quarter of the 2020 European Cup in a breathtaking game full of storylines A final, thus responding to vicious criticism.

In what might be the best game to date, the Spanish team fell behind Pedri’s own goal near the center line in the first half as goalkeeper Unai Simon let the pass pass by him.

But the three-time European champions regained their composure and scored an easy victory with goals from Pablo Sarabia, Cesar Azpilicueta and Ferran Torres.

Croatia showed the spirit of leading them to the last World Cup final. In the 85th minute, with Mislav Orsic’s goal and Mario Passalic’s header, they made an amazing comeback to force them. Overtime is over.

Luis Enrique’s team showed great personality and won in the 100th minute with a brilliant strike from Morata and a goal from Mikel Oyazabal in the 103rd minute.

On Friday, Spain won the 2012 European Cup in St. Petersburg and played against France or Switzerland in the quarter-finals, celebrating their first knockout victory in a major event.

“This is an epic game,” Luis Enrique said.

“In my career, I have gone through many fierce competitions, but this is one of the best matches. Countless things have happened to us, but we know how to turn things around. Today everyone has seen our true Team spirit.”

The striker Aspilicueta added: “We have suffered so much and haven’t won the knockout for a long time. We finally won the World Cup runner-up.”

Croatia heads home high, but is still waiting to win the knockout round in the European Cup.

“At the beginning of overtime, we got them into trouble, but we failed to score from two good opportunities. Then, the game reversed and we didn’t have the strength to come back,” midfielder Luka Modric said.

Head coach Zlatko Dalic added: “We did our best to get the score back 3-3. There were some opportunities, but in the end we didn’t win the game.”

Morata responds to criticism

Due to inconsistent performance and criticism from his own supporters, Morata has been the center of attention in the Spanish election campaign, having an ugly turn in the 5-0 defeat of Slovakia last week.

His wife and children were threatened by supporters in Seville. He complained about death threats before the game, which prompted coach Luis Enrique to urge the police to take action.

The forward has long struggled to maintain stability before scoring. His career has led him to Real Madrid, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Juventus, and his former coach and teammates accused him of fragile character.

But here, when the Spaniard’s confidence was on the court, he showed steel-like power, controlled Danny Olmo’s cross with one foot, and then rushed to the top of the net, bringing Spain back to the front.

Soon after, substitute Oyazabal shot another Olmo cross to increase Spain’s lead, and this time Croatia did not respond.

The result made them the first team in the European Cup to score five or more goals in consecutive matches. Morata, together with Fernando Torres, became his country and tied for the highest score with five goals in the game. player of.

Pedri set an unpopular record: his own goal at 49 yards was the longest own goal in the European Cup and the first own goal outside the penalty zone in this tournament.