For Spanish fans, watching their so far struggling country at Euro 2020 turns into a test of endurance.
Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Poland, as was the case with Sweden’s goalless draw in the first game, showed a worrying lack of intuition in Spain, who seem more interested in not giving up the ball than risk doing something creative with it.
Just as he did against Sweden when he made 917 passes and 85% of the ball – the most passes in a European Championship since 1980 – Spain dominated the ball against Poland; But he has done little to turn this dominance into goals.
With
Spain’s goal came in the 25th minute from a shot by Moreno that Alvaro Morata turned into the net, and Moreno should have doubled the score before the end of the first half.
Spain shook with a equalizer from Robert Lewandowski (54); But she had an immediate opportunity to regain the lead, but Moreno shot from the penalty spot at the post, and Morata failed to follow up.
Then Spain looked shy in attack, out of ideas, and their frustrated Seville fans could only remember the old days, when great players such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Silva could be counted on to break through their opponents’ defences.
Inspiration
According to current indicators, the Spanish national team cannot even count on this to get past Group E. After obtaining two points from two matches, Spain occupies third place behind leaders Sweden (4 points) and Slovakia (3 points).
And if he fails to find some inspiration for his clash with Slovakia later this week, and fails to win, it will be Spain’s first home tournament since the 1982 World Cup, facing a shameful end.
This is the first time since 1996 that Spain have failed to win at least one of their first two matches in the European Championship.
After watching the first two matches of Spain, the Slovakian team will not feel any intimidation.
“We do not see the Spain team that we are used to watching, where is the physical strength and leadership, there is no player like Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta or Xavi,” former Germany striker Jürgen Klinsmann said in his analysis of the match on the BBC. who would step in when things went wrong.”
“Now when things go wrong they look at each other and shirk responsibility, like a penalty kick,” he added.
Luis Enrique has options in his squad, such as Thiago Alcantara of Liverpool, Pablo Sarabia of Paris Saint-Germain, and fast winger Adama Traore, who has not yet participated completely; But he is a stubborn person and is unlikely to change the way he plays; But the Spain coach expects more from his players.
“I thought we would be able to apply our method more, but we couldn’t,” Luis Enrique said. “The result often covers performance flaws, when the result is not positive, it requires close analysis. It is not the best feeling.”