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And suddenly, in the last phase of his career, Joselu Mato, aged 33, who had recently been relegated to Segunda with his team, once again solved what could even be described as the main Spanish problem: the traffic jam in the last quarter of a few centimetres Shine. As in Málaga against Norway, the still Espanyol striker, just a step away from Real Madrid, entered the field after 84 minutes and immediately found the prize. And this time the prize was gigantic: they defeated Italy and put out the flames that threatened to engulf coach Luis de la Fuente and led Spain to Sunday’s Nations League final against Croatia in Rotterdam (20.45, La1). .
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Unai Simón, Alba, Laporte, Jesús Navas, Le Normand, Gavi (Canales, min 68), Yeremy Pino (Ansu Fati, min 74), Merino (Fabián, min 74), Rodrigo (Marco Asensio, min 45) ). ), Rodrigo and Morata (Joselu, min. 83)
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Gianluigi Donnarumma, Acerbi, Rafael Tolói, Bonucci (Darmian, min. 45), Di Lorenzo, Barella, Davide Frattesi (Verratti, min. 76), Jorginho (Cristante, min. 60), Leonardo Spinazzola (Dimarco, min. 45) , Nicolo Zaniolo and Immobile (Federico Chiesa, min. 60)
Goals 1-0 mins 3: Yeremy Pino. 1-1 min 11: Immobile. 2-1 min 87: Joselu.
referee Slavko Vincic
Yellow cards Immobile (min. 38), Alba (min. 45), Gavi (min. 57), Morata (min. 82) and Nicolo Zaniolo (min. 92)
The game nailed the side’s frustrations and how Joselu, who is blessed with goals, eradicates them with a subtle move. With time pressing towards extra time, the team dominated and scored with a drop shot from Ansu Fati, an opening to the wing and a shot from the outside edge by Rodri Virguera. Nothing they haven’t already done. But this time there was Joselu, who had only been on the pitch for five minutes, measuring his stride on the offside line, moving towards the rebound, poking his right toe in and almost allaying fears.
De la Fuente had arrived in the Netherlands brooding, still on an expedition, in search of a suitable mix of footballers. He shook the shaker again. While he made eight changes from Malaga to Glasgow, he made another eight from there to Enschede. And not only that: five of the starters were not even on their first list. In March, Unai Simón (injured), Le Normand (still French), Alba, Navas and Rodrigo Moreno were absent.
It was the Nations League, a small tournament yes, but it was also a semi-final and another game between Spain and Italy, no matter what stage you are in, there are always plenty of crumbs left. A European classic that has already been repeated 40 times.
However, it began with a tone inappropriate for its tonnage. The first spark came from a hesitation from a guy you wouldn’t expect even a slight tremor from. Gavi wanted to put pressure on Leonardo Bonucci who appears to have played this game all his life. However, he lost some control of the ball, which Yéremy blocked in a second attack. The canary entered the penalty area and opened the scoring.
Yeremi Pino scores Spain’s first goal against Italy in the Nations League semifinals this Thursday in Enschede, Netherlands.PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW (EL PAÍS)
The lightning, so unexpected, upset the balance. Spain, determined to reclaim the ball high up, suddenly dropped and took the lead, watching the falling flurry of flanks. By the time Zaniolo caught one in the penalty area, he was firing at nothing and it turned out to be Le Normand’s right-hand man. Bonucci died on what might be one of his last afternoons with Italy and the Real defender was partnered by another Frenchman, Laporte, on his debut as a Spaniard.
Immobile converted the penalty. Spain lost that advantage so early but calm won. Suddenly, as if the storm had passed, Rodri appeared. The best player in the last Champions League final cleaned, arranged and accelerated at will. Spain had the ball and Italy the dizziness.
Mancini had a plan whereby he threatened control of De la Fuente with poison. Able to handle games at low speeds, Jorginho struggled to avoid delays, taking advantage of the fact that Spain had settled in his territory and the movement left a large estate. Italy devoted themselves to playing the drums behind Le Normand and Laporte, who were challenged with every air ball and every return. Even a dizzying terror.
Frattesi, a Sassuolo midfielder, surprised the pair, standing alone against Unai and scoring a goal. Less than twenty minutes had passed since Pino had taken the lead and La Roja, despite the illusion of being in charge, had already lost everything. However, the VAR saved them from the shock and De la Fuente saw his team getting closer and closer to Donnarumma. Morata, Gavi and Merino moved freely through the hot corners. Perhaps only the rescued Rodrigo Moreno was upset, very imprecise.
He was the first to leave the field after the break. Marco Asensio came in and immediately turned up the heat with a millimeter pass to the far post that nearly put Mikel Merino on goal. Morata struggled with the rebound, but the ball escaped just meters from the post. Asensio had pulled the cable connecting the controls to the electric shock, either by stepping on the spot or by adding spices further back.
De la Fuente continued to put coal in the cauldron: Canales, Fabián, Ansu Fati and finally Joselu the psychic. The Blessed. One more night.
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