Reporter Su Yang reported that above the stands of Copenhagen Park Stadium, there are stunned faces painted with red and yellow colors. The first away trip to this European Cup left Spanish fans with an unforgettable opening. At this moment, they can experience first-hand the helpless mood of the Slovak fans in Sevilla 5 days ago.
The Spaniards were lucky. After the same "cardiac arrest" oolong ball, the Slovaks waited for 60 minutes of "rescue ineffectiveness", while the Matador fans in the subsequent 100 minutes of "CPR and electrical defibrillation rescue", despite experiencing the "gradual awakening to faint again" of the huge torture, but finally walked off the operating table safely - 5-3 in extra time to eliminate the World Cup runner-up, Spain completed a remarkable self-redemption.
Unai Simon did not become the second Dubravka, he turned out the Croatian's must-score in extra time; also out of the haze was Morata, who even received death threats after the last round of penalties, and it was he who helped Spain reverse the decline when the team was dragged into overtime; as for Enrique, the somewhat paranoid Asturian man did not seem to care about the eyes of others, but after this game, the doubts about him may dissipate a lot.
Admittedly, Modric and his teammates are out with their heads held high, but the protagonist of this night at Copenhagen Park Stadium is called Spain.
Sweeping Slovakia 5-0, the Spaniards were still faintly regaining their former glory at the end of the group stage. But only one win in three games at home still makes the outside world slightly worried about Spain's knockout trip, and Croatia, the runner-up of the last World Cup, is the best touchstone for Enrique and his disciples.
Busquets' return is a source of confidence for Enrique, the double achievement of the Barça Dream Three Dynasties and the Spanish Armada, although nearly 33 years old, is still the most indispensable central processor of this renewed Spanish team - he won the best in the first game, and in this game, he won again.
The quarter-final with Croatia, because of the club status of the captains of the two sides, also brought a little bit of confrontational color to the Spanish national derby. Coupled with the fact that Enrique has not recruited any Real Madrid players, Croatia, which has Modric, may even become a real supporter of some Madridists.
Spain, who have returned to the heartline, were more proactive in the opening stages, with Salavia hitting the side-net and Cork missing a single knife as the best proof of their superiority – but frequent missed opportunities are punishable and are the constant "laws" on the pitch. Spanish fans, who were still lamenting the inability to score in the Atletico midfield five minutes ago, witnessed an incredible goal conceded in the 20th minute of the match.
At 49 yards, 44.8 meters, Pedri, who had just broken the Record of the Youngest Starter in the European Cup Knockout Round held by Wayne Rooney at 18 years and 215 days, scored his "first goal" in the European Cup, but the "greater credit" belonged to Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon, who made a careless stop mistake that fulfilled the "farthest range" goal in the history of the European Championship – just 0.6 meters shorter than the previous midfield shot scored by Hick in the group stage.
This oolong is also the ninth oolong goal in this European Championship, and this figure even equals the total number of oolong goals in the previous 15 European Championships. Unai Simon, who made a big mistake, buried his head in the goal jacket, and in his first appearance in the last game, he witnessed the psychological shadow that Oolong's goal left on Dubravka.
Unai Simon was fortunate that his teammates did not sit idly by and watch the tragedy of the Slovak-style collapse repeat itself. Saravia, who made Dubravka's oolong in the last round, scored a shot in the 38th minute in front of goal. The Matadors were able to return to the dressing room with a 1-1 draw to adjust their mood.
With Dalic taking the lead in adjusting, replacing the ineffectual centre-forward Petkovic with Karamarić, but it was Enrique's side that scored first. Pedri was not disturbed by the sudden "oolong" in the first half, calmly broke through the side of Theland Torres, the almost performanceless Manchester City winger cross in the first half found Azpilicueta, the Chelsea defender headed the cross and scored his first goal of the national team, and the Spanish team completed the rebound in the 56th minute.
In the 76th minute, another dramatic scene occurred on the field. The Spanish team launched a long pass from a set-piece on the left side of the field, and Ferran Torres easily entered the box after receiving the ball on the right side of the field, freed from the Croatian defender's blockage and calmly shot.
It is worth mentioning that because before this goal, the two sides were taking advantage of the short gap in the treatment of Spanish full-back Gaya to come to the sideline to replenish the water, so that the game resumed, and when Paul Torres quickly opened a set-piece, the Croatian players could not return to the position. Gvadior, who was finally chasing Felan Torres, didn't even have time to throw the water bottle aside.
Faced with consecutive goals conceded, the tenacious Croat did not tie his hands. In the 84th minute, Modric scored into the penalty area before the inverted triangle pass, the second half substitute Changchun Yatai veteran Olsić swept the ball towards the goal in the melee, although Unai Simon struggled to free the ball, but the referee raised his watch to indicate that the ball had crossed the goal line.
In the 2nd minute of injury time, Orsic made another threat, he found Passalic in the box with a cross from the left, atlanta midfielder jumped high and smashed the ball into the net, and the two-goal trailing Lattice Army completed an incredible draw in just 7 minutes.
Leading by two goals, being dragged into extra time by their opponents, Spanish fans who had just recovered from outrageous oolongs were once again smothered.
The Croatians were highly motivated. Shortly after the start of extra time, Orsic's scrub was slightly higher. Three minutes later, it was his wing break to find a good opportunity for Croatia, in the middle of the penalty area, close to the goal of Kramarić got the opportunity to kill the game, but his shot was blocked by Spain's "sinner" Unay Simon.
In fact, the Bass had already proven themselves twice in the second half of regular time before making this crucial save, with a low shot inside the Gvadior penalty area and the Croatian's subsequent offside single knife that was almost a millimeter away.
Unai Simon was able to overcome himself without the help of his teammates. Saravia's equalising goal in the first half alleviated the guilt of the Bibau goalkeeper for letting the team fall behind at half-time, and he was encouraged by De Gea's comfort at half-time. The United goalkeeper, who lost his main position in the national team, gave the youngster, who is 7 years younger than himself, the warmest encouragement, just as the big brother Casillas supported when he appeared in the World Cup three years ago.
Unai Simon wasn't the only player to stage a redemption scene tonight, with Morata's goal completely crushing the Plaids' psychological defence after he blocked the Croatian's frantic counterattack for three minutes.
Because of the sluggish performance in the group stage, Morata felt the pressure of public opinion that he had never felt before. Morata stayed up all night after facing Slovakia to miss a penalty, and his wife and daughter were even threatened with death, "My family received threats and insults and they wanted my children to die." My wife had to put up with it all, and my kids were told everything, which bothered me. ”
Under pressure, coach Enrique still chose to trust his No. 7. This time, the paranoid Enrique did not make a mistake, Morata did not live up to the manager's determination to "win and lose", juve shooter who ran on the field for nearly 100 minutes, received a cross from olmo's right, unloaded the ball with his right foot and turned to shoot with his left foot, piercing Livakovic's ten-finger mark, the "double reverse foot forward" completed the most perfect self-testimony with such a goal, and this goal also allowed him to equal the Spanish Team European Championship goal record held by Torres - yes, you read it correctly, Morata has scored five goals in the European Cup.
Exhausted, Croatia "finally" lost the ability to resist, and Oyazavar's goal pronounced the death of the World Cup runner-up. "I did go through something I didn't like, but most of the Spaniards stood with me and today's goal was dedicated to my wife, my children and all those who supported me and had to suffer in order to enjoy a moment like this." In the interview after the game, Morata was relieved.
Also relieved of the pressure was his coach. Despite some criticism for the substitution after taking the lead in the second half, Enrique finally laughed to the end, Spain became the first team in The history of the European Championship to score five goals in a row, and they could even imagine the semi-finals in advance after the Frenchman was out of the game – of course, the Swiss, who had just written another magical script, would not easily agree.
In the quarterfinals, Enrique and his disciples will travel to the far away city of St. Petersburg. Forget who will walk out of the Russian gas arena with a smile, this 5-3 has made the Spaniard's Trip to Euro 2020 worthwhile.