5-Star Spain Book Croatia Showdown
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Established 1961 Sport THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2021 5-star Spain book Croatia showdown Claesson hits last-gasp winner for Sweden against Poland SEVILLE/SAINT PETERSBURG: Spain finally vered, even as Sarabia and Pedri both kicked the air have lift off at Euro 2020 after a 5-0 hammering of before finally Dubravka stepped in to give them a Slovakia yesterday sent them through as runners-up helping hand. Lubomir Satka’s scuffed clearance fell in Group E, with Croatia their opponents in the last straight to Sarabia, whose dipping shot banged 16 on Monday. Luis Enrique described his team as a against the top of the crossbar and flew upwards. bottle of cava about to be popped and they certainly Dubravka was under it and as he tried to flick the exploded in Seville, where a scoring frenzy felt dropping ball over his own crossbar, he succeeded cathartic and could yet prove transformative for only in flapping it into his own net. their chances in the knock-out stages. Spain breathed a sigh of relief and just before Spain were even about to progress as group win- half-time they made it two. Dubravka was again at ners until Viktor Claesson scored in the 94th minute fault, this time edging out only to see Moreno steer against Poland to secure top spot for Sweden. the ball away from him in the area and cross it back Slovakia finish third and are out. After two tension- in. Laporte did brilliantly to loop his header into the filled draws against Sweden and Poland, Spain were top corner. Slovakia threw Michal Duris and left scrambling to qualify, with Luis Enrique admit- Stanislav Lobotka on at half-time but Spain were ting he would have taken any position in the group liberated and within 10 minutes, it was three. This as long as it meant going through. time, it was not a mistake but a slick move that made SAINT PETERSBURG: Poland’s midfielder But Spain ran riot at La Cartuja, their early anx- it, Jordi Alba pulling back to Sarabia, who steered Grzegorz Krychowiak (left) fights for the ball iety heightened by Alvaro Morata’s missed penalty into the corner. with Sweden’s forward Marcus Berg during and then quickly eased by two dreadful mistakes Morata came off when he might have wanted to the UEFA Euro 2020 Group E match at Saint by Slovakia’s goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. The stay on and his replacement scored almost with his Petersburg Stadium yesterday. -— AFP first was an own goal that will surely go down as first touch, Torres applying a superb flick to Sarabia’s one of the strangest moments of the tournament cross to the front post. It got worse for Slovakia, a before another Dubravka error allowed Aymeric scrap in the box resulting in Kucka hacking Pau the second game in a row, netting the second-fastest after testing positive for COVID-19 just before the Laporte to head in. Torres’ header into his own net for a fifth. Spain were goal in European Championship history. tournament. With the shackles off, Spain let loose in the sec- briefly top, only for Sweden to snatch a winner. The RB Leipzig attacker collected a loose ball His driving run and pass set up Forsberg to curl in ond half as Pablo Sarabia, Ferran Torres and another Meanwhile, Viktor Claesson scored an injury- just outside the Poland area after Kamil Glik flat- Sweden’s second on 59 minutes, but Poland own goal from Juraj Kucka confirmed an emphatic time winner as Sweden beat Poland 3-2 in Saint tened Alexander Isak, riding a challenge from Kamil responded to set up a thrilling finish. Lewandowski win, even if Croatia and Luka Modric will provide a Petersburg yesterday to clinch top spot in Group E Jozwiak before firing into the far corner. With halved the deficit with a brilliant solo effort on 61 much sterner test next week. and knock their opponents out of Euro 2020. Emil Poland needing victory to avoid elimination minutes, bending into the top corner to become his Spain monopolized the ball in the first half but for Forsberg struck twice, the first coming after just 81 Lewandowski hit the crossbar twice in a matter of country’s all-time leading scorer at the tournament. 30 minutes, it was a familiar story of chances missed seconds, but Robert Lewandowski’s double gave seconds, incredibly failing to convert his own Poland had not scored more than once in any of and frustration growing. Spain were awarded a Poland hope of qualifying before Claesson’s late goal rebound from point-blank range after connecting their previous 13 matches at the finals, but penalty as Jakub Hromada went to clear but instead sent Sweden through as group winners. with Piotr Zielinski’s corner. Lewandowski took advantage of confusion lashed into the leg of Koke. Morata had deferred the Sweden will likely play Ukraine in the last 16 after Zielinski forced Robin Olsen into a pair of flying between Victor Lindelof and Marcus Danielson to spot-kick to Moreno against Poland and this time pipping Spain to first place, with Slovakia exiting saves with shots from distance either side of half- equalize six minutes from time. As Poland desper- took charge, only to whip the ball at a comfortable alongside Poland following the crushing 5-0 defeat in time, with the Sweden goalkeeper also making a fine ately pushed for a winner, Sweden snatched all height for Dubravka to palm away to his right. It was Seville. Janne Andersson’s side, safe in the knowledge stop from Grzegorz Krychowiak’s long-range shot. three points right at the death when Kulusevski the fifth consecutive penalty Spain have missed. they were assured of a place in the next round before Juventus winger Dejan Kulusevski came on 10 min- played in fellow substitute Claesson to slot beyond They might have crumbled but instead perse- kick-off, made a dream start as Forsberg scored for utes into the second half for his first appearance Wojciech Szczesny. — AFP .