In a battle between two of European football’s heavyweights, Spain asserted their dominance early and cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Croatia in their opening EURO 2024 Group B encounter on Saturday, 15th June at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
The Spaniards came out of the blocks quickly in the first half, cutting through the Croatian defence with ease. Alvaro Morata opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark when he slotted the ball past Dominik Livakovic to give Spain the lead. Marata has now scored against Croatia for the third successive Euro.
The floodgates then opened as the first half drew to a close, with the man of the match Fabian Ruiz and Champions League winner Dani Carvajal both finding the net to put Spain firmly in control.
Ruiz’s powerful 32nd-minute strike and Carvajal’s superb volley in first-half additional time capped off a brilliant end to the opening 45 minutes for Luis de la Fuente’s side.
Croatia, who had packed out the Olympiastadion with their passionate fans, struggled to gain a foothold in the game as Spain dominated possession even in the second half.
The Croatians did create some late chances in the second half though, with Josip Stanisic and Bruno Petkovic coming close, but Spain’s goalkeeper Unai Simon was equal to the task.
Substitute Bruno Petkovic thought he had pulled a goal back in the 80th minute for Croatia when he tapped in after Simon had initially saved his penalty, but the goal was disallowed for encroachment by Ivan Perisic.
This summed up a frustrating afternoon for the 2018 World Cup finalists, who now face an uphill battle to advance from a challenging group that also includes Italy and Albania.
In contrast, Spain will be encouraged by this confident display, with the likes of Morata, Carvajal, and the impressive 16-year-old Lamine Yamal all catching the eye. They face defending champions Italy next in a mouth-watering clash that will be live on NBS Sport on Thursday, 20th June.
