In the ninetieth minute the goal of the Arsenal striker who had just been sent onto the field together with Fernan Torres. Ronaldo disappoints, Leao too and Goncalo Ramos remains on the bench
Spain haven’t lost in 35 games and haven’t conceded a goal in the last six. Statistics don’t win you trophies but in this case they say a lot about how De La Fuente’s team is on the pitch. Search for ball possession yes, but pay great attention in defense and then be ready to start again after recovering the ball. In the match against Portugal, however, the turning point came from the bench, when towards the end everyone gave the impression of thinking about extra time. Everyone but the Spaniards starting with the technical commissioner who he sent Fernan Torres and Merino onto the field without giving up Yamal and Oryazabal. Courage was rewarded in the ninetieth minute with a combination between the two new arrivals: Fernan Torres served Merino vertically and the Arsenal striker sent the ball into the net. On 10 July in Los Angeles, Spain will face the winner of the match in the quarter-finals between the United States and Belgium (hoping that there are no other disqualifications revoked on Trump’s orders).
Ronaldo’s tears
The elimination of Portugal marks the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo from the world event. To think that in 4 years, at 45 years old, he could still be on the field is really difficult to imagine. But in this tournament while his rival Lionel Messi continues to score goals and drag Argentina, CR7 was more of a problem than an asset for Portugal as was also seen in the match against Spain. Too slow and far from the pace of the opponents, Cristiano only stood out for his anger towards his teammates after the goal conceded and for his tears after the defeat. But inside the Portuguese dressing room more than one teammate resented coach Martinez’s choices to always make him a starter and never remove him from the field. It’s not clear why he stayed Milan’s new signing Goncalo Ramos was on the bench for the entire match scorer of Portugal’s winning goal against Croatia. And speaking of Milan, Rafa Leao he failed for the umpteenth time at the chance offered to him by coach Martinez. But it’s no longer news.
