Spain Emerges Victorious over Croatia in the First Matchday of the 2024 Euros
Germany - Group B is filled with three top 10 teams from the world FIFA rankings. Spain is ranked as the number eight team in the world and Croatia falls just behind as they rank as the number 10 team in the world. This matchup was the fourth straight tournament that they have met in the Euros. Spain has still yet to lose to Croatia in all competitions as they go on to win 3-0 in their opening match of the 2024 Euros. Despite a huge margin of defeat, Croatia had hope as they dominated possession and had multiple chances to score, but just couldn’t find the back of the net. Spain will jump into first place in Group B, pending the outcome of Italy vs Albania.
This was expected to be a low-scoring, possession-based game. With both teams having dominant midfields, the key was to hold possession for as long as possible. Spain’s starting three midfielders consisted of Rodri, Pedri, and Fabian Ruiz. Their “tika taka” game plan makes it very difficult to play against. Their first shot of the game came from starting striker, Alvaro Morata. With nearly 70% possession in the opening ten minutes of the game, Croatia was struggling to defend Spain’s slow, patient style of play. Soon after, Lamine Yamal had a great chance to score as he had a one-on-one chance to finish with a single defender and the goalkeeper in his way but failed to make contact with the ball. Yamal is also the youngest player to ever play in the Euros at the age of 16 years old.
Croatia was finally finding their way into the game after surviving the early Spanish attack. They had a fairly decent chance as Ante Budimir received the ball from an incoming cross but headed right of the post and didn’t give Unai Simon much of a scare. In the 28th minute, Spain finally broke through as Morata finished his one-on-one chance against the Croatian keeper, Livakovic. It was an excellent through ball from the PSG man, Fabian Ruiz. Three minutes later, Fabian Ruiz got a goal of his own. It was an excellent display of fancy dribbling and he slotted the ball in the bottom right corner. Croatia was not backing down or feeling defeated by any means. Josko Gvardiol nearly broke through as his shot attempt, in the 40th minute, narrowly escaped the inside of the post.
In the two minutes of extra time, Dani Carvajal joined the fun as he found a gap between the Croatian defense and tapped the ball into the back of the net. Lamine Yamal delivered an excellent ball into the box and Caravajal made no mistake with it. Spain was on their way to gaining three points and heading to the top of the group despite Croatia having three more shot attempts. The difference was that the Spanish were making the most of their attacks while Croatia failed to. It was a 3 nil halftime lead for the Spaniards, an excellent display of their style of play.
The 38-year-old Croatian, Luka Modric, failed to control the midfield and make his mark on the game. It looked like the golden generation had finally run its course. Lamine Yamal was within inches of scoring his first Euro goal but Livakovic made an incredible save, showcasing his cat-like reflexes. How Croatia didn’t score in the 54th minute is incredible. It was chaos with the ball just floating around in the box, giving Croatia multiple chances to score but the Spanish defense persevered through it somehow. About ten minutes later, Morata picked up an injury and subbed himself off the field. He kicked the ball out of play and placed the captain's band over to Rodri, signaling he was done.
With 20 minutes left to play, plus stoppage time, the entire Croatian midfield had been subbed out. As I mentioned before, the golden generation has gotten old and their legs are taking a heavier toll. Croatia finally got something to go their way. Unai Simon held onto the ball for too long and Croatia’s pressure forced the mistake and drew a penalty. Bruno Petkovic forced a yellow card from Rodri and stepped to the penalty spot. He smashed it towards the bottom left corner but was saved by Unai Simon and was rebounded away. It was then sent back into the box and Petkovic found the back of the net, but there was an offsides ruling. Goal differential is very important, especially when playing in a talented group like this. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for Croatia. Credit to Spain for converting their chances in front of the net. In the end, Spain would collect all three points in their 3-0 victory.
