Spain 3 Croatia 0: Lamine Yamal makes history as youngest Euros ...

12 days ago

The New York Times

Spain 3 Croatia 0 Lamine Yamal makes history as youngest Euros

Spain got their Euro 2024 campaign off to an impressive start with victory over Croatia

It was the first real heavyweight meeting of Euro 2024 — and the result was much more one-sided than many expected.

Spain got their campaign off to an impressive start with a 3-0 win over Croatia at Berlin’s Olympiastadion thanks to goals from Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Carvajal — all scored before half-time.

Real Madrid full-back Carvajal’s strike was assisted by Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest player at a European Championship, aged 16 years and 338 days old.

His display was just one of several positives for Spain boss Luis de la Fuente, while there was only disappointment for Croatia legend Luka Modric and his team-mates, who had a late consolation ruled out by the video assistant referee.

Here, The Athletic’s Dermot Corrigan, Tim Spiers and Tom Burrows break down the talking points.

How good was record-breaker Yamal?

He showed why he is among the hottest emerging superstars in football.

A fairy tale 12 months had seen the La Masia academy graduate become the youngest-ever La Liga player, Champions League starter and La Liga scorer.

Today he showed why he fully deserves his place in Spain’s senior XI. There was one awkward moment early on when he seemed to be clear behind the Croatia defence, before clumsily cutting back onto his left foot — but from there, he settled in as Spain’s most important attacker.

GO DEEPER

What makes Lamine Yamal such a special footballer?

It was his persistence and quality, driving at the Croatia defence and then retaining possession in a dangerous area, that led directly to Fabian’s goal for 2-0. Then his tremendous in-swinging cross made it a simple finish for Carvajal to put Spain even further clear.

Yamal impressed once again, as he made history (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Including his goalscoring international debut against Georgia last September, Yamal now has seven goal contributions (two goals and five assists) in his eight senior caps. After the break, Croatia ‘keeper Dominik Livakovic prevented Yamal from adding his name to the scoresheet, and the teenager then almost registered a second assist, this time for Morata.

“The other day, I told Lamine that when I was 17, I was celebrating winning the under-19 Copa del Rey with Real Madrid,” Carvajal said of Yamal during the week. “This kid is now important with Barcelona and Spain. It’s mad.”

The date of Yamal’s 17th birthday? July 13 — the day before the Euro 2024 final.

Dermot Corrigan

And how good were Spain?

There were a lot of questions hanging over this Spain team coming into Euro 2024, from back to front, with coach De la Fuente coming into his first tournament in charge.

And the first quarter of the match did not seem to be going too well, with Croatia having more of the ball, and looking to be growing in confidence.

But then a Croatia move broke down, Spain countered quickly and Morata finished confidently. The often questioned La Roja captain, who had scored just twice in the last five months for his club Atletico Madrid, had returned to form at just the right moment.

Morata celebrates his goal on Saturday (Peter Lous/BSR Agency/Getty Images)

Goalkeeper Unai Simon has also had his doubters, with individual errors costing Spain at previous tournaments, but he looked safe and assured for most of the game, including when palming away Mateo Kovacic’s long-range effort at 1-0 up and punching a ball off Andrej Kramaric’s head close to goal in the second half.

Even De la Fuente’s debatable picks paid off. Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Fabian provided an excellent goal and assist, and Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella cleared off the line in the second half.

Then, however, Morata and Rodri left the pitch apparently injured in the second half and Simon made one customary error by giving the ball to Lovro Majer, leading to Croatia’s penalty.

So it was not a perfect day for Spain, but a good start nonetheless.

Dermot Corrigan

Croatia’s old guard suffer

There was something very symbolic about Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic’s roles in Spain’s second goal in the Olympiastadion.

There appeared to be very little on for Spain, with Croatia nicely set defensively on the edge of their own box, but then Fabian wrongfooted Modric, who was left facing slack-jawed towards Munich. He then ambled past a helpless Brozovic, who had no intention of risking giving away a penalty with a sliding tackle, allowing Fabian to finish tidily into the corner.

Nice goal, awful defending.

Croatia’s midfield, with Mateo Kovacic completing the trio, has been the steady, reliable presence of the national team for many years, capable of running any football match and producing moments of genius. All are aged over 30 and between them, they’re nearing a combined total of 400 caps (375 after today).

Modric has recently renewed with Real Madrid (Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

They weren’t outplayed by Spain’s younger, friskier midfield, far from it, but Brozovic’s influence as a pivot was shackled by Spain’s impressive pressing game and too often Modric and Kovacic found their team-mates to be on different wavelengths.

Croatia missed a couple of easy chances in one box and defended poorly at the back for Spain’s other two goals, so in terms of the defeat you can look at the attack and defence for being more culpable.

When Modric and Kovacic were hooked on 65 minutes, you suspect Zlatko Dalic had one eye on Albania on Wednesday. But, again, the symbolism was there.

Tim Spiers

What happened with the disallowed goal?

After a frustrating night, Croatia thought they had finally pulled one back with 10 minutes to go, potentially adding some spice to the finale.

Having been awarded a penalty following a foul by Rodri, substitute Bruno Petkovic missed the spot kick before scoring from the rebound after a smart cutback from fellow substitute Ivan Perisic.

However, the goal was then chalked off following a VAR check, with Perisic deemed to have entered the box too early, without a retake being called.

According to the International Football Association Board (IFAB, world football’s law-making body), encroachment from the attacking side only results in a retake if they score directly from the penalty.

Perisic protesting with referee Michael Oliver (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

There was also a VAR check on Rodri’s foul — with some questions over whether he should have been sent off. He was shown a yellow card by Michael Oliver instead, presumably because the referee felt some attempt had been made to play the ball. A player can’t be sent off and concede a penalty kick if it is considered they attempted to make a fair challenge.

All of this just summed up Croatia’s disappointing evening in front of goal.

Going into the tournament, one of the chief concerns for Croatia was their lack of firepower up front, with Zlatko Dalic unable to rely on a clinical striker in the mould of Davor Suker or Mario Mandzukic, and this was apparent in their opening match this evening.

Against Spain, Osasuna striker Ante Budimir led the line but he was guilty of a shocking miss to pull one back for Croatia just before half-time after a smart cross by Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol.

At 2-0 down, Croatia had another big opportunity to drag themselves back into the contest but Lovro Majer hit the side netting when Unai Simon parried Marcelo Brozovic’s shot into his path.

Ten minutes into the second half, Croatia somehow failed to score again after excellent work by Kovacic set up Josip Stanisic, whose shot was blocked by Marc Cucurella. Budimir had another chance in the resulting scramble but after failing to convert, he was hooked by Dalic immediately.

Food for thought for Dalic as Croatia now look to Albania on Wednesday in Hamburg, a game where they will expect to have even more chances.

Tom Burrows

What did Spain coach Luis de la Fuente say?

“We are very happy, but very prudent, we know how football is,” he told RTVE. “This is a good start, with good feelings, our football, our competitiveness. But this has just started, there is a long way to go.

“It was a very complete game, in defence and attack, brilliant in our high pressing against one of the best technical teams in the world. I am happy with the attitude, how we read the game, doing what was needed, and obviously for the result.

“But we can still get a lot better. We have to be demanding, enjoy this result, but prepare for the next game.”