Croatia and Spain met in Copenhagen on Monday for their EURO 2020 round of 16 match. The match was played at Parken Stadium and officiated by Cuneyt Cakir from Turkey.
Unlike the group stage, Croatia had the support of many fans, with over 5,000 estimated at Parken Stadium today.
Slobodan Kadic
Lineups
Croatia: Livakovic, Juranović, Vida, Ćaleta-Car, Guardiol, Modrić, Brozović, Kovačić, Vlašić, Petković, Rebić
Spain: Simon, Azpilicueta, Garcia, Laporte, Gaya, Koke, Busquets, Pedri, Sarabia, Torres, Morata
Slobodan Kadic
Spain possessed the game at the start and even had an early chance approaching the 2nd minute. Livaković was there for an easy save.
Spain had another chance in the 5th minute which they missed in front of the goal. Croatia tried a quick counter but Kova played it out.
Croatia was shaky in the first 10 minutes, which Spain used to calmly and confidently play the ball up the pitch.
Gvardiol stopped the Spain attack with a ball to Petković who was fouled by two Spain players for a free kick.
Spain had another dangerous chance in the 12th minute but shot outside the net. Rebić tried to find Vlašić at the top of the box in one of Croatia’s few attacks of the half thus far, but the Spain defense had no issues retaking possession.
Slobodan Kadic
Livaković made the one-footed save of the tournament in the 15th minute, and with the help of Gvardiol, the ball went out for a corner.
A quick Croatia counter-attack in the 17th minute saw quick one-twos between Gvardiol, Petković, Brozović, and Vlašić but no progress was made. Croatia was saved by the hand of Livaković yet again two minutes later.
But a catastrophic Spain mistake put Croatia in the lead one minute later – and it was 1:0 Croatia thanks to an own goal in the 20th minute!
The goal gave Croatia just the momentum they needed as they continued attacking in the 5 minutes that followed. Rebić was taken down in the box which Croatia called for a penalty (with no luck), and Vlašić hit the side netting moments later.
Vlašić dribbled through the Spain midfield to find Kova who shot just over the post.
A corner for Spain in the 31st minute was the biggest threat they had since the beginning of the half. Another Spain corner in the 36th minute resulted in a shot *almost* on goal, but it went out for a Croatia goal kick.
A series of shots on goal and incredible saves by Livaković ultimately became too much for the Croatia defense, and Sarabia equalized for 1:1 in the 38th minute.
Spain had two corners in the 41st minute – the latter of which was cleared by Rebić’s head.
Juranović had a good cross into the box with two minutes to go in the first half but the Spain keeper stopped the play. Kova played the perfect through ball to Rebić one minute later which was only just too quick for him. Morata tried putting Spain ahead moments later but shot over the goal.
The match ended 1:1 at the half.
Dalić made one sub to start the second half – Kramarić came on for Petković.
A Spain free kick from 30 meters out was cleared by Vida three minutes in. Vlašić tried for a quick Croatia counter once the ball was cleared but took a long first touch.
Brozović switched the pitch to find Juranović who attacked up the right wing, cut in, and tried finding Kramarić.
Spain maintained possession again for the first 10 minutes of the second half. A cross from the left found the head of an unmarked Azpilicueta in the box for the Spain lead. It was 1:2 for Spain in the 57th minute.
Rebić just didn’t have it this time, and after missing a great chance on the left side, Dalić subbed him off Mislav Oršić in the 67th minute. With just under 25 minutes to go, the Croatia fans grew even louder.
Kramarić was one-on-one with the keeper one minute later which was called offside.
Spain subbed off Sarabia for former Dinamo star Dani Olmo, and Garcia for Torres in the 70th minute. A Spain goal was called offside a minute later.
Slobodan Kadic
Dalić went in with yet another offensive sub, this time calling off Juranović for the fresh legs of Josip Brekalo. There were 15 minutes to go.
A quick Spain free kick from the midfield line found Torres unmarked on the right side. He scored for 1:3 Spain in the 77th minute.
Dalić made two more subs – Budimir came on for Kovačić and Pašalić for Vlašić.
Slobodan Kadic
A mixup in the Spain defense and a series of blocked shots in front of the goal saw Oršić score for 2:3 with 5 minutes to go!
The ref added 6 minutes to the end of the match. Kramarić had a shot on goal which was called offside.
But then it happened – Croatia came back to equalize in the 2nd minute of added time – Pašalić scored for 3:3! The match went to extra time. Two 15 minute halves were played.
Slobodan Kadic
Croatia had a great attack in the first minute and Oršić just shot over the goal! Another huge opportunity for Croatia came in the 95th minute with multiple shots on goal all saved by the Spain defense.
Not long after, Morata was found alone on the far post to score for 3:4 in the 100th minute.
Busquets was subbed off for Rodri in the 101st minute.
Kramarić had a shot right at the keeper in the 102nd, which wasn’t enough. Spain came back to score again for 3:5 in the 103rd.
The second half of extra time started with a stellar through ball by Oršić to Budimir who shot just wide of the goal. But there was not much time left for Croatia to get two goals…
Dalić subbed off Modrić for Ivanušec in the 113th minute. Spain attacked in the final minutes, hindering Croatia from making it past the midfield line. It was a decent effort from Croatia, but not enough.
The match ended 3:5 for Spain.
Spain plays against the winner of France and Switzerland, which we will find out tonight from 9 pm.
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