Dani Olmo wanted a chance. And he got it against Albania: he responded with an assist for Ferran Torres. However, the player who had been labelled as Luis de la Fuente’s favourite returned to the bench for the match against Georgia. The coach placed Pedri in the attacking midfield position. “There is no battle with Pedri. We are teammates. I try to help my team,” said the Spanish number 10. He had had another chance. And, once again, he did not waste it. This time to seal Spain’s rout of Georgia, their ticket to the quarter-finals.
4
Unai Simon, Cucurella (Grimaldo, min. 66), Dani Carvajal (Jesus Navas, min. 80), Le Normand, Laporte, Pedri (Dani Olmo, min. 52), Fabian (Merino, min. 81), Rodrigo, Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Morata (Oyarzabal, min. 66)
1
Mamardashvili, Luka Lochoshvili (Heorhii Tsitaishvili, min. 63), Kashia, Dvali, Giorgi Gvelesiani, Kakabadze, Giorgi Chakvetadze (Zuriko Davitashvili, min. 63), Giorgi Kochorashvili, Otar Kiteishvili, Georges Mikautadze (Budu Zivzivadze, min. 79) and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Goals 0-1 min. 17: Le Normand (pp). 1-1 min. 38: Rodrigo. 2-1 min. 51: Fabian. 3-1 min. 75: Nico Williams. 4-1 min. 83: Dani Olmo.
Referee François Letexier
Yellow cards Morata (min. 43) and Zuriko Davitashvili (min. 70)
“Germany is one of the favorites, they play at home, but we are not afraid of anyone. It will be a very close match,” Fabián recalled. And Rodri, Spain’s football leader, stressed: “Germany must not be very happy to play with us. “They play at home, but we have our weapons.” “But,” he added on the 16th; “We must improve some things if we want to pass.” Spain controlled the ball, but not the times of the match against Georgia in Cologne. Until the Red pivot raised his voice. “It was a game of patience, a different game from the ones we had played until now. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We have to correct some things, in some phases we lacked forcefulness. And a little patience. I asked my colleagues for a little peace of mind. We couldn’t lose control. My goal was the key to peace, they, without doing anything out of this world, scored against us.” Mamardashvili complained about the play: “The first goal is offside for sure. Morata bothers me a lot.”
Rodri, in any case, continued with his analysis: “I think that, in general terms, we controlled the game well,” analyzed the Manchester City midfielder. In the first half, Spain completed 399 passes compared to 395 in the second stage. However, the speed of moving the leather changed after passing through the locker room. That speed translated, for example, into the ability of the red to generate danger: 2.16 expected goals in the second half; 0.90 in the first.
“The first half wasn’t us, missing easy passes, which is what they wanted. The goals didn’t come until we had a break,” said Fabián. And he completed: “Our football is that, moving the ball from one side to the other and reaching the area. Our bands have great quality. Lamine gave me an incredible ball.” In a band Carvajal and Yamal; in the other, Cucurella and Nico Williams. The Chelsea full-back and the Athletic striker have only played four games together. All with Spain. However, it seems that they have been combining on the left wing all their lives. “We have shown that we are a great team, we have to continue,” said the youngest Williams.
“All teams struggle to get to this stage, but it was a tricky game. It was eight or nine to one. You have to suffer when you don’t manage to capitalise on those chances,” said De la Fuente. “The reading is very positive and it is another step forward in terms of security, confidence… They are very happy because it was a very important game for everyone. We knew the importance of getting this far. Nobody gave us anything for free. First we have to recover and try to be a more recognisable team every day. Against Germany we have to give our best,” concluded the Spanish coach.
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