Spain won their opening Euro 2024 Group B match against Croatia with a convincing 3-0 victory at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. All the goals for “La Roja” came in the first half.
Alvaro Morata (29′), Fabian Ruiz (32′) and Dani Carvajal (45+2′) were on target for the Spaniards. In the second half, the Croats missed a penalty through Bruno Petkovic. However, Petkovic scored a follow-up after an assist from Perisic, but the goal was disallowed as Perisic had entered the penalty area early.
As expected, the Croats started more defensively in their own half and looked for counter-attacks, while De la Fuente’s side controlled the ball and looked for ways to open up the symbolic visitors’ goal. Interestingly, this match saw Lamine Yamal become the youngest player to play in a European Championship – he is just 16 years and 338 days old.
The boredom at the Olympiastadion ended in the 29th minute when Fabian Ruiz played a superb pass to put Alvaro Morata one-on-one with Livakovic, and the Spaniard coolly finished for 1-0.
Seconds after the goal for Spain, the score could have been leveled, but a shot from Kovacic was saved by Unai Simon.
The Croats had to endure another “bitter pill” just 3 minutes after the first goal. It all started with Lamine Yamal, who advanced from the right and passed to Pedri, who in turn continued to Fabian Ruiz, who had taken up a position around the arc. The scorer of the first goal this time took matters into his own hands, feinted past a few Croatian players and technically rolled it past Livakovic for 2-0.
The Croats reacted like stung again after a goal for Spain and in the 33rd minute they wasted a great chance to reduce the deficit. First Mateo Brozovic fired at the Spanish goal, but Simon saved, Lovro Majer ran in and made an addition, but tangled the ball into the side netting.
Shortly before half-time, the “chess players” missed another chance. Josko Gvardiol had joined the attack and shot dangerously from a tight angle, but inches separated him from the target. Ante Budimir was also close to redirecting the ball into the goal, but he also missed by millimeters.
Seconds before the referee blew the final whistle for the first half, the Spaniards scored a third goal. Lamine Yamal crossed superbly from a free kick, Dani Carvajal sneaked between the Croatian defenders and sent the ball into the net to make it a classic score already in the first half.
Seven minutes after the restart, Spain missed another goal in the Croatian net. Pedri stole the ball just outside the arc and passed to Lamine Yamal in the penalty area. The 16-year-old Yamal shot brilliantly with his left foot, but even more brilliant was the intervention of Livakovic, who saved his net with his right hand.
In the 55th minute, Croatia had several chances to punish their opponent after an incredible scramble in front of the goal guarded by Unai Simon. Stanisic, Budimir and Kramaric fired at the target in succession, but miraculously the ball never found its way into the net.
Ten minutes from the end, Rodri fouled Bruno Petkovic and the referee pointed to the spot. Replays showed that there was no contact, but Michael Oliver strangely confirmed his decision. The victim took on the penalty, but his shot was saved by Unai Simon. Ivan Perisic got to the ball and again passed to Petkovic, who scored into an empty net, but it turned out that Perisic had entered the penalty area before the penalty was taken and the goal was disallowed.
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