Spain became a finalist in the Nations League by defeating Italy 2-1 and on Sunday they will face Croatia in the decisive match of this second European competition for selected teams that takes place in the Netherlands.
In a match played at the De Grolsch Veste stadium, in the city of Enschede, where Twente is the home team, the “Red” won with goals from Jeremy Pino and Joseluwhile Cyrus Immobile discounted penalty.
In the first minutes, the Spain of louis de la fuente He came out to press well up and had his quick prize when Leonardo Bonucci was entertained in a bad start and the Villarreal striker Yeremy Pino he stole it and defined the far post.
Spain asserted himself on the field and was more aggressive, but everything changed in the 11th minute when Nicolo Zaniolo received a pass inside the area and shot very badly, but the French nationalized Spanish Robin LeNormand -Real Sociedad soccer player- touched it with his hand.
The Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic charged a penalty and Ciro Immobile (today he returned to the title in place of the Argentine Mateo Retegui, this time a substitute, and converted again with the “azzurra” after two years) changed the free kick for a goal to equalize the match .
As part of the renovation after Luis Enrique, De la Fuente put together a defense of French naturalized Spanish with Le Normand and Aymeric Laporte, former Athletic Bilbao today at Manchester City. As the minutes passed, Spain handled the ball, but Italy warned the Iberians that they could not be neglected.
And that prudence prevented the Spaniards from taking more risks to go looking for the second goal.
In the second half, Pino hit a formidable pass to the far post where Mikel Merino hit it, Donnarumma prevented the goal, but rebounded and Morata turned around, throwing it out.
This arrival showed the defensive fragility of Italy despite the fact that Roberto Mancini took out Bonucci and sent another defender onto the field and reinforced the midfield, where the “Red” was handled with ease.
A few minutes later, Donnarumma came out very loose with his hands to stop a cross, lost it in the big area and Rodri executed a scissors that went very close to the crossbar. The meeting reflected the weak present of the PSG goalkeeper.
Then the always sober Unai Simón shined before a point-blank shot from Davide Frattesi, the Sassuolo midfielder, in one of the few arrivals from Italy. De la Fuente ordered his team to advance several meters and for this reason, at times, the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper played as a libero several meters outside his area.
Then, De la Fuente opted for players who would guarantee him tenure and good management with the income of Fabián Ruiz, Sergio Canales and Marco Asensio, although with ten minutes to go he sent Joselu, Espanyol de Barcelona’s goalscorer, onto the field for an inconsequential Morata.
About the closing, Spain put together a very good play in the rival area, the Italian defenders rebounded, Rodri took it from outside the area, finished off, bounced off two defenders and Joselu, very well enabled, pushed it into the back of the net, right under Donnarumma’s nose.
The final of the third edition of this contest, which already had Portugal and France as winners, will be played by Croatia and Spain on Sunday the 18th in the city of Rotterdam.
Summary of the party
Spain: Unai Simon; Jesús Navas, Robin Le Normand, Aymeric Laporte and Jordi Alba; Rodri, Mikel Merino, Rodrigo Moreno, Gavi and Yéremy Pino; and Alvaro Morata. DT: Luis De la Fuente.
Italy: Gianluigi Donnarumma; Rafael Tolói, Leonardo Bonucci, Francesco Acerbi; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Nicolo Barella, Jorginho, Davide Frattesi and Leonardo Spinazzola; Nicolo Zaniolo and Ciro Immobile. DT: Roberto Mancini.
Goals in the first half: 4m Yeremy Pino (E); 11m Ciro Immobile (I) penalty.
Goal in the second half: 88m Joselu (E).
Substitutions in the second half: 1m Federico Dimarco for Spinazzola (I) and Matteo Darmian for Bonucci (I); 1m Marco Asensio by Rodrigo Moreno (E); 14m Federico Chiesa for Immobile (I) and Bryan Cristante for Jorginho (I); 23m Sergio Canales for Gavi (E); 29m Ansu Fati by Pino (E) and Fabián Ruiz by Merino (E); 30m Marco Verratti by Frattesi (I) and 38m Joselu by Morata (E).
Booked in the first half: 39m Immobile (I); 46m Alba (E).
Booked in the second half: 11m Gavi (E); 47 Zaniolo (I).
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)
Stadium: De Grolsch Veste (Enschede, in the Netherlands).
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
