The striker scored the goal that sent this semi-final into extra time – but there was heartbreak to come in the shootoutAlvaro Morata once likened facing Giorgio Chiellini to trying to take a banana off a gorilla in a cage. Here it looked like he had taken something much, much bigger from him but, in the end, Italy reached out and took it back: after an epic battle that place in the final on Sunday is theirs, not Spain’s.For Luis Enrique’s side, and especially for his striker, where there had been redemption, scoring the goal that had saved Spain once again, there was now regret, the cruelness deepened by how calmly Jorginho rolled in the decisive penalty at the culmination...
A breathless victory over Croatia keeps Spain in the Euro 2020 reckoning but desire for more verticality is shredding nervesLuis Enrique wants Spain to be more vertical, but the problem with verticality is that it can lead to chaos. At least with the sterility of possession there is a sense of control – and against Croatia on Monday night there was none of that. But it may be that a draining win that toyed with the emotions and demanded extraordinary character was a necessary battle in the Luis Enrique revolution.Not that there was much sign of that in the first half, which began in the traditional manner. Pass, pass, pass, miss. Pass, pass, pass, miss. Then a twist: pass, pass,...
A handful of the best emerging talents to seek out as they look to make waves around Europe this summerThe latest talent to emerge from the famed “Bromma Boys” production line in Stockholm after Bojan Djordic and John Guidetti. Kulusevski has made steady progress in his first full season at Juventus and was the hero of their Coppa Italia victory over his former club Atalanta. Having moved to Italy three months after his 16th birthday, the forward spent two spells at Parma and joined Juve for more than £30m last year. Kulusevki, whose father is from North Macedonia, was born in Sweden but represented Macedonia at under 16 and 17 level before making the switch and is often compared to...
Germany’s worst result since 1931 raises questions about the coach’s methods and the players he has frozen out The fourth official was preparing to raise the board for one last time when Luis Enrique drew up close and said something to him. Even in the quiet of an empty arena the Spain manager couldn’t be heard clearly, but he seemed to be suggesting there was no need to add any more time. Germany had had enough, and long ago. To his left, Joachim Löw sat in the shadow of the bench, not moving, which is how he had sat for most of the night. Above him, Oliver Bierhoff, the national team director, watched in silence alongside the substitutes.The board went...
Watching Santi Cazorla against Romania it was hard to shake this sense of a player with an unusual grasp of timeA few years ago the American novelist Nicholson Baker wrote a book about a man with the power to stop the world around him. In this state, called the fermata, his hero is able to peer into peoples pockets, examine their sock drawers, set in order, solve and this being Baker indulge in a series of energetically detailed 12-hour onanism marathons, while the physical world waits for permission to pick up where it left off.Watching sport at all levels it can seem at times as though there are athletes out there with a version of this power. You know the...