Euro match day 11 June 24, 2024
Italy 1 vs 1 Croatia
By Gerald Lutchman
ITALY were very fortunate to equalise in the 90+8th minute when it looked like they were out of the competition and Croatia would have progressed. In a split second, Italy were in and Croatia with a slim chance of making it to the next stage of tournament.
Luka Modric, at 38 year and 289 days old, became the oldest scorer in the Euros but it was not enough in what may be his last appearance in a Euro. He netted in the 55th minute.
His penalty kick was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma just moments before. Italian substitute Mattia Zacagni scored in the 98th minute to send the Italians into the round of 16.
The current champions were on the brink of going out but have survived to fight another day. This Italian side does not seem to have the ability to score goals on a regular basis and in the next round it will be a problem.
Croatia has a slim chance of progressing as one of the best third place teams but it is slim because they need England to hammer Slovenia in that match. The English have not shown the ability to find the net regularly.
Spain 1 vs 0 Albania
Spain’s reserves proved their ability and this helped England into the Round of 16. Ferran Torres 13th minute strike was all that was needed for Spain to have a perfect record in the first round. It is perfect – three games, three wins and zero goals conceded. It seems that the second-best team in the Euros is the Spanish reserves. Luis De LA Fuente made 10 changes from the team that beat Italy.
The following is the completed table for Group B:
