The Spanish national team has become the first semifinalist of the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany. “La Furia” played a memorable match against the hosts of the continental competition, winning 2-1 after extra time. The clash in Stuttgart offered incredible drama and footballing moments that will earn it a place in the treasure trove of great European Championship matches.
Regular time ended 1-1, with everything starting after the break when an early goal from Dani Olmo put Spain ahead. Germany did not give up until the very end and Florian Wirtz equalized in the 88th minute. From then on, Nagelsmann’s men pressed hard and had some good chances to complete the comeback. They were also against referee Anthony Taylor, who did not award a penalty for a handball by Cucurella in the 107th minute.
So the climax came 60 seconds before the end of the second 15 minutes. A cross to Merino was converted into an invaluable goal by the Basque midfielder, sending “La Roja” to the semi-finals of the competition, where the Iberians will face France or Portugal.
The match started quite actively for the Spaniards, who could have taken the lead in just the 50th second. “La Furia” organized a good attack in which captain Morata respected Pedri’s run from a second position. The midfielder shot from the edge of the penalty area, but Neuer saved without much difficulty.
Luis de la Fuente had problems in the third minute when full-back Marc Cucurella went down on the turf after a heavy collision with Emre Can. However, the Chelsea defender gritted his teeth and signaled that he would continue his participation in this quarterfinal.
The Germans definitely stepped on the ground firmly and put the most technical stars of Spain under heavy pressure from the first whistle. After two tough “operations” performed on him by Kroos and Andrich, Pedri fell to the ground and signaled that he could not stay on the pitch. So Luis de la Fuente had to make a change, which involved the appearance of Dani Olmo.
Lamine Yamal tried something unconventional from a direct free kick in the 14th minute, when, in “Ronaldinho” style, he tried to slip the ball under the jumping wall of the Bundesteam. Fortunately for Neuer, the ball passed centimeters from his side post.
“La Roja” pressed their opponent deep, which caused great difficulties for the Germans in organizing their attacks. Another mistake by Emre Can in the center led to a shot by Fabian Ruiz, who sent his shot over the crossbar.
Germany waited for its first goal opportunity in the 20th minute when Joshua Kimmich crossed from the flank and Kai Havertz headed straight into Unai Simon’s range.
In the middle of the first half, the game became unexpectedly tense, with both teams engaging in tough tackles for every ball, which created a lot of work for referee Anthony Taylor.
Kai Havertz pounced on one of the few mistakes by the Spanish defense and got a chance to shoot. Unai Simon was in position and managed to save relatively easily in the 34th minute.
Similar to the first half, the second half also started with a goal opportunity for the Spanish team. Lamine Yamal found Alvaro Morata in the penalty area. The Atletico Madrid striker turned and managed to shoot past Jonathan Tah, but only over the crossbar of Manuel Neuer.
Stuttgart fell eerily silent in the 51st minute when Spain deservedly took the lead. Alvaro Morata had returned near the center circle, where he opened up space for Lamine Yamal to operate. The wonderkid of the Iberians waited a few seconds to perfectly judge his pass towards the arc for the lurking Dani Olmo from a second position. The player who came on as forced substitution number 10 didn’t wait for a second invitation and with a well-placed shot on the ground he matted Neuer for 1-0.
Julian Nagelsmann reacted immediately to what happened and brought on Niclas Füllkrug, which in turn gave a powerful start to the crosses for Germany’s No. 9 in the opponent’s penalty area.
A few minutes later, Unai Simon had to show his reflexes, after brilliantly repelling a shot from Andrich.
In the 76th minute, luck was not on the side of the hosts. Florian Wirtz finally got a chance to develop his speed on the flank, after which he managed to send a pass into the penalty area. There, Niclas Füllkrug outmuscled Nacho and shot from close range. To his horror, however, the ball only deflected off the side post.
A few centimeters deprived the Germans of an equalizer in the 82nd minute. Unai Simon himself made life difficult for his team after he threw the ball from an out kick with incredible weakness. This allowed Havertz to steal the ball and charge towards the Spaniards’ goal. The Basque goalkeeper continued with his decisive actions and started to leave his penalty area, but a second later he stopped. This allowed Havertz to chip him over, but together with the goalkeeper, the Arsenal star also kicked over the crossbar.
This great match deserved a maximally dramatic development of events. And so it came to the 88th minute, when the Mannschaft fought bravely to restore parity. Nagelsmann’s team had one of their last chances in the match, when Mittelstadt’s cross to the far post was played by Kimmich. The Bundesliga leader laid it off for the unmarked Wirtz, who with a powerful diagonal shot sent nearly 60,000 people in the Stuttgart stadium into delirium.
Spain certainly did not feel comfortable in the last minutes of the match. This allowed the Germans to create one more dangerous attack before the end of regular time. Thomas Müller, however, failed to put enough spin on his shot, being almost with his back to the goal.
The most interesting situation for this first extra time was created by the Spaniards in the 103rd minute. Oyarzabal broke free on the flank and sent a diagonal shot that almost hit the far corner of Manuel Neuer’s goal.
Florian Wirtz could have become a national hero for his country after an excellent scoring opportunity for 2-1 opened up for the Bayer Leverkusen playmaker. Thomas Müller did everything he could to send a telling pass to the young star, who however sent his shot extremely close to Simon’s right post.
Referee Anthony Taylor became a key figure in the 107th minute of the match. The referee was then surrounded by all the German footballers, who were passionately demanding a penalty from him. And there were all the necessary prerequisites for one, as Musiala’s shot found Cucurella’s hand in the penalty area. The referee from the island, however, made the bold decision not to respect the hosts’ protests and let the game continue.
Hardly anyone in the stands expected the drama in Stuttgart to come at the very end of the second extra time. The Germans tore themselves apart crossing balls to Füllkrug, but instead, this similar game action became fundamental for the subsequent victory of Spain. Dani Olmo got some space and simply sent the ball towards the penalty area, where substitute Mikel Merino made a strong run and headed past Neuer for 2-1!
Until the end, the Germans threw themselves blindly into attack. After a few melees, the chance came to the head of Niclas Füllkrug, who headed the ball, only to see it go out for a corner. And that meant one thing – the end of German dreams of a trophy from the home competition, as well as another step for “La Furia” towards the dream of conquering the European football summit again.
And if you want to try your luck, or have a gut feeling about the final result of one of the Euro 2024 matches, do it with the help of our trusted partner BetMGM by clicking on the banner below: