It may not have been the way they wanted it and the nerves were frayed for far too long but the European champions are in the quarter-finals. Spain and Croatia spent 88 minutes waiting for a goal. When it finally arrived, it was Jesús Navas who scored it, to send Spain through as winners of Group C.
The problem for Spain was that at 0-0 they would go through in second. The other problem was that they were on a knife edge, knowing that a single goal could knock them out. They had sought to avoid those nerves but created little. At the other end, Iker Casillas twice saved them. And then, with two minutes left, at last there was space. Two substitutes were involved. Cesc Fábregas clipped a lovely pass into Andrés Iniesta, who brought the ball down on the chest and rolled it across the face of goal for Navas to walk into the net, smashing it with all his might from less than a yard.
The power in the shot was an expression of the relief. How long they had waited, how close they had felt to disaster.
Slaven Bilic had talked about the need to compete with Spain for possession and he shifted his side to that end. Nikica Jelavic started on the bench, leaving Mario Mandzukic up front on his own with an extra man in midfield.
Spain kept the same side who had destroyed the Republic of Ireland. In that game, they had set a European Championship record for passes, completing almost 92% of them; 788 in total. That was the nature of the task that confronted Croatia. For Luka Modric in particular this represented a fascinating challenge and he produced a sharp run just over a minute in that fleetingly threatened to open Spain.
Croatia appeared content to wait and, where necessary, to destroy. It was hard to resist the conclusion that a goal would change that – a goal here or a goal in Poznan, where Italy played Ireland and where Croatia's fate would also be decided.
Much had been made about the fact that a 2-2 draw would put Spain and Croatia through, knocking Italy out. Both sets of players were keen to rubbish such suggestions but talk of "biscuits" – Italian slang for a fix – abound. If that seemed to foretell a race for goals, however, it did not happen.
In these circumstances, the debate over sterile possession tentatively reared its head. A wonderful combination between David Silva and Iniesta opened Croatia. Slow-slow-slow-suddenly quick, Iniesta dashing into the area. The pass was hit hard; the shot, though, was not.
Next there was a long range effort each from the centre-backs, first Sergio Ramos then Gerard Piqué. Both sailed over. And Fernando Torres muscled his way in on the right. But his shot was blocked at the near post by the shin of Stipe Pletikosa and Spain had not made a genuinely clear chance.
Suddenly, Croatia found the space they had waited for on 24 minutes. Danijel Pranjic, racing into the left hand channel, shot into Casillas's body having been found by Modric and a moment later Darijo Srna's cutback was belted over the bar by Mandzukic. Then Croatia felt that they should have had a penalty. Mandzukic dashed towards the right of the area and Ramos flew across. Diving in, he made the challenge with studs showing. He appeared to get the ball but it was risky indeed.
A few moments later, the giant screens in the four corners of this stadium ran a message across the bottom: Italy were 1-0 up in Poznan. All three teams were provisionally level on five points, so a mini-league between the three sides decided. Croatia were out; Spain were second, not first. Italy were going through as group winners.
This was on edge but Croatia, on their way out, still seemed to be happier to see the clock tick down than Spain. Bilic's side appeared to be waiting for their moment, playing on the nerves. Spain knew that a goal against was dangerous and the later it came the more dangerous it would be. The half-time whistle was a reminder of that fact.
There was a warning of the precariousness of Spain's position just before the hour. A break down the right caught Spain out. Modric delivered a gorgeous cross with the outside of his right foot to the far post, where Ivan Rakitic was dashing into the area. He dived to connect with the header; Casillas flew to make the save. The roar from Spanish fans spoke of relief.
Vicente del Bosque responded immediately. Navas replaced Torres in the search for width and depth to the attack, with Silva now moving into the false No9 position. Within a few minutes, Spain's fans made their suggestion as to which man should benefit from Navas's deliveries. "Llorente! Llorente!" went the chant. Still, the clock. The nerves. The wait.
Del Bosque's next change was to send on Fábregas for Silva and as the clock moved, so did the priorities. Spain's nerves never went away but the closer they got to the end, the closer they got to their goal. Croatia were surely aware of the increasing need to find one but, despite Bilic sending on Jelavic, there was no real sense of desperation.
With 12 minutes to go, they broke with the kind of purpose conspicuous by its absence before. Mandzukic's left-wing cross reached the far side of the area where Ivan Perisic brought the shot down on his chest and volleyed goalwards. Again, Casillas made the save.
There was one more card for Bilic to play: Eduardo on for Ognjen Vukojevic. There were eight minutes, plus additional time, to play. That clock again. It reached 88 and then the ball reached Navas. Read More
انسخ الكود التالى و ضعه فى موقعك او مدونتك.
