Euro-2021: after years of anonymity, La Roja wants to return to glory

Published on : 07/02/2021 – 09:57

By qualifying for the quarter-finals of Euro-2021 at the expense of Croatia (3-5), Spain broke a black series that had pursued it for several years. Because after having outrageously dominated world football between 2008 and 2012, becoming the first selection to win three major competitions in a row – the Euro in 2008 and 2012 and the World-2010 thanks to the generation of Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol , Torres and Casillas -, La Roja had fallen into line.

Precisely since his pitiful elimination in the first round of the 2014 World Cup, after a memorable rout against the Netherlands (1-5). A humiliation that Spain was slow to forget, as evidenced by its early eliminations in the round of 16 of Euro-2016 and the World-2018.

Ten goals scored in their last two games

Against Croatia, in the eighth of this Euro-2021, it almost knew an identical fate after leaving the vice-world champions, then led 3 goals to 1, to achieve a comeback to return to equality in the last seconds of the part. The completely crazy scenario of this match finally turned in favor of Luis Enrique’s men who scored two new goals in extra time (5-3, ap).

Opposed to Switzerland, which eliminated France (3-3, 5-4 tab) to everyone’s surprise in the previous round to play its first quarter-final of the Euro, Spain is the favorite of this duel. Even if the Spanish coach Luis Enrique said he expected “a complicated game” against “a very good team, which attack and defend as a whole”.

Led by the young Pedri, one of Spain’s playing masters with Sergio Busquets and Koke, La Roja can however hope to continue his way in the competition.

A rather unexpected prospect after a start to the competition as sluggish as it was disappointing, with two consecutive draws against Sweden (0-0), when it entered the tournament, and against Poland (1-1).

Criticized by the Spanish media for their ineffectiveness in front of goal, La Roja regained color at the right time, before facing Slovakia in their last group match. In particular thanks to the return to the field of his essential captain and metronome Sergio Busquets (absent after a positive test for Covid-19), which coincided with a resounding victory of the Iberians over the Slovaks (5-0), synonymous with qualification in the eighth .

Authors of 10 goals in their last two outings (best attack in the Euro with 11 goals), they lived up to their attacking potential, which can take them further in the competition, even if the winner of this quarter finals will then face a big fish in the semifinals at Wembley on July 6 – Belgium or Italy.

When La Roja wins her quarter-final, she wins the Euro

The ambitious Luis Enrique, who took over the reins of the team a few months after leaving his post in June 2019 to be closer to his family affected by a tragedy, sees big for his group. “Spain is one of the favorites, there is no doubt. (…) We are in the group of six-seven favorites,” he said before the start of the competition.

And this, despite a preparation disrupted by a multiplication of cases of Covid-19 within the Spanish selection, which could not play its last preparation match against Lithuania and had gone so far as to urgently call 6 reservists and 11 members of the Espoirs team, just in case …

It is in this context that Spain finally came to this Euro by appearing among the outsiders, one row behind the favorites French, Belgian and Dutch, even though it had brilliantly completed its qualifying campaign, finishing undefeated at the top of its group (ahead of Sweden, with 8 wins, 2 draws and 29 goals scored).

Far from having abandoned his game of possession and redoubling of passes called the “tiki-taka” – envied by some and hated by others, but which had allowed him to conquer the world – La Roja had displayed maddening statistics during these qualifications. More than any other selection, she is the one that made the most shots (227), posted the highest possession rate (70%) and completed the most successful passes (91%).

Interviewed Thursday at a press conference, Luis Enrique appeared very confident before facing Switzerland. To the question “have you seen a better team than Spain in this Euro?”, He replied confidently “no”.

“We are one of the best teams in the European Championship defensively, despite some individual mistakes,” said the 51-year-old technician. “The team has a good attitude and I’m happy with the way we handled the last few minutes against Croatia. What I didn’t like was what we did with the ball during this period, not what we haven’t done without. “

Before entering the lawn, Friday, the Spaniards, who have lost only one of their last 28 games, will remember a statistic so far never denied: when the Roja wins her quarter-final, she wins the Euro. A happiness that only Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba have known in 2012, when the group has 17 players who are entering a major final phase.