Spain finished fine-tuning for the Euro Cup against a strong rival like the five-time champion Brazil, who always held on to local dominance by a thread and ended up tying with a penalty, the third of the night, in the last moment of added time. There, Spain missed a match with much more tension than expected due to its nature as a gesture against racism and in which Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled. He set the pace, recovered from the first two-goal advantage that he lost and showed that since Qatar he has gained strength and has the tools to compete. Although not in any way.
When he lost on Friday in London against Colombia, it was clear that major transformations do not work for the coach, as happened in Glasgow, the other defeat of his mandate. Conversely, it is also true that the block that works for you flows very well. Against Brazil, the last stop before the list for the Euro Cup, he lined up an eleven that, waiting for Pedri, and perhaps with the only unknown of the left back, which Cucurella occupied, could be the first in the tournament in Germany, the June 15 against Croatia at the Berlin Olympics.
The center of the field was taken by Rodri, Fabián and Olmo, who mixed control of space and threat with the ball. The Leipzig player moved in the same vein as Nico and Yamal, extremely inspired by the bands. Olmo always appeared between the lines at the necessary point to connect what was happening a little further back with what was about to happen ahead. That’s where they started to accelerate. Then the magic happened a few meters ahead. Yamal and Nico seemed like the most Brazilian people at the party. The Barcelona player’s driving dazzled the Bernabéu, and he let out a few “oh”s that are difficult to repeat in this setting. In one of those dances he caused a penalty, which Morata gave to Rodri as he had given him the captain’s armband. The City footballer has mourned the death of his grandfather these days, and when he scored he pointed it out in the sky.
Brazil barely appeared in any of Rodrygo’s conductions, with hardly any signs of Paquetá in the center, while Yamal and Nico gave a recital. In one of the escapes by the Athletic winger, the referee thought he saw a penalty, although he later placed the ball for the foul outside the area. He and Yamal were an unfathomable torment. The Barça player filtered a pass to Olmo, who joined the party with a shot at Beraldo, a dribble outwards and the score was 2-0. Spain was flowing in all its registers and in Brazil not even Vinicius, the center of the match against racism, appeared, a friendly that ceased to be a friendly very soon. Despite the good-spirited signage, two strong teams crossed paths, which were not willing to give an inch even in a corner: pushing, collisions, complaints to the referee and a brief succession of yellow cards underlined the voltage peaks.
Spain maintained control of the scene, but Unai Simón made a mistake with a pass at the start, Rodrygo picked up the gift and deposited it in the net with a smooth parabola. Brazil, overwhelmed by the command of De la Fuente’s team, was still in the game when the referee sent them to the locker room.
From there came an agitated Canarinha with four changes. Couto, Pereira, André and Endrick entered, who made his debut at the Bernabéu a few months earlier than his age allows him to do so with Real Madrid, the club that hired him a long time ago. On Saturday he played for the first time in Europe and scored against England at Wembley, and last night he barely needed five minutes on the grass of his future home to find his way to the goal. The boy is a voracious striker who, if not predestined, with his determination makes it seem so. In four days he conquered two historic football cathedrals. He also unleashed a hookup between Vini and Oyarzabal with a triple foul on Cucurella on the alleged day of peace.
Spain then lost its footing and Brazil found the doors open to run. In that lack of control, which also happened on Friday against Colombia, De la Fuente’s team found itself vulnerable. Although Yamal appeared again, with another pass to Carvajal, who was knocked down by Beraldo in the area. That penalty was matched by Brazil with another committed by the full-back himself. And there the duel died, even.
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