Friday, May 18th, 2012
After making it look so easy for much of this tournament, Spain did things the hard way as they overcame a tough Belarus side to win 1-3 in extra-time. The result see’s Luis Milla’s side reach the final, but also the Olympics in 2012.
Once again Spain dominated a game, but this time the end product deceived them until the very last as they called upon their character rather than technique to come out victorious.
Milla retained the XI that featured previously to much success against Czech Republic and Ukraine, but they lacked the intensity which benefited them in those games.
Spain was rather insipid in the early going, and in fact throughout the first half. There had been concerns prior to the game fatigue might get the better of them given this was the third straight game without changes, and for some it showed. For all the dominance in their grasp, Spain couldn’t find too many chances opening up for them and when they did get into more dangerous areas a Belarusian body was in the way.
Thiago had several decent chances as he gained a yard of space, but his efforts were wayward. As had gone before, Javi Martínez was providing the base for Ander, Thiago and Mata to excel upon – Ander was making some smart late runs and on one occasion in particular was a fraction away of heading home but the cross was over hit. Another late run saw the new Athletic Bilbao man arrive in the box, only for his header to be saved comfortably.
The deadlock was then broken, but no from the expected source. Alvaro Domínguez and first Martínez failed to deal with a long throw, and Andrey Voronkov provided a moment of improvisation to perform a backwards kick of sorts to evade David De Gea who barely moved.
Spain made a weak attempt to get back in the game before the half-time whistle sounded, as they simply maintained possession without causing any danger.
With the second half underway Spain attempted to pile more pressure on the Belarus penalty area, and they did just that for awhile. Though the intent was there, the tempo remained slow and predictable as Belarus defended in numbers without ever being pulled apart.
Before they knew it though, Adrián had two of the best chances so far: Firstly he saw a tame effort go narrowly wide, before his next attempt perhaps should’ve been put across the keeper rather than at the near post.
Thiago and Juan Mata both dropped into deeper areas, as Belarus sat in deeper more space was created in front of the back line. Bojan came on, and so did Diego Capel as Milla tried to once again pick up the pace of the game – Spain continued to play the way they know is best, an admirable trait.
Then though the perseverance paid off for Spain; a slipped pass into Jeffrén, who had provided a more direct sensibility into the attack, saw the Barcelona man drive the ball into Adrián who made a smart near post run and finished in a smart manner too. The game was heading into extra-time, and with the adrenaline flowing through the Spanish players’ veins it was only going one way.
Alberto Botía had a great chance to grab the lead, but his effort went into the side netting. The pressure was being applied more thoroughly and under the weight of it all Belarus finally caved in. Diego Capel played a one-two with Mata, before the Sevilla winger dinked in a well judged pass to Adrián who again was in the right place to nod home this time. Wild celebrations were sparked, as Spain’s bench all ran onto the field.
To get the party well and truly started though, Jeffrén struck a glorious 25 yard effort which arrowed into the net.
After all the early difficulties, Spain made it look rather easy in extra time though in the final they will have to heed the warnings of this first half performance against Belarus.
What can’t be overshadowed is the qualification for the Olympics held in London next year, as this was the main goal set out by Milla and his hierachy ahead of the tournament. Spain last featured in Sydney twelve years ago, when they were defeated by Cameroon on penalties in the final.
SPAIN: De Gea; Montoya, Botía, Domínguez (Bojan, 76), Dídac; Javi Martínez; Mata, Thiago, Ander Herrera (Capel, 58), Muniain (Jeffren, 70); Adrián
Tags: Adrian, European Championships, Javi Martinez, Juan Mata, Olympics, Spain, U-21, Under 21
