Kickoff chronicles

The final round of Group B saw Spain take on Albania at the Dusseldorf Arena and Croatia play Italy at the Leipzig Stadium. The majority of the world’s attention was drawn to Croatia vs Italy as the stakes were much higher. If Croatia win, they go through to the knockout rounds 2nd. If they draw or lose Italy will go through 2nd, presuming Spain win their last game and go top with 9 points with Albania losing and sitting bottom on 1.

Unsurprisingly, Spain were the first of the 4 teams to score, opening their tie after just 10 minutes played. Dani Olmo played a neat ball through to Ferran Torres in the right side of the penalty area who brilliantly wrapped the inside of his left foot around it, watching it nestle into the far corner. Despite fielding almost a completely different starting XI, with 10 first team changes, it didn’t affect Spain, demonstrating their level of squad depth. Albania did have the odd chance but Spain looked as though they were going to make it 3 wins in a row as the half ended 1-0.

Over at the Leipzig Stadium, it was fair to say that Italy had dominated the first half, forcing multiple acrobatic saves from their shot stopper Dominik Livakovic. The half finished all square at 0-0 with Croatia needing to find something in the second period if they were to keep their Euro 2024 journey going.

Early on in the second period of the Croatia vs Italy game, Croatia were awarded with a penalty after Andrej Kramaric won the spot kick when his effort from inside the area struck the arm of Davide Frattesi. It was a golden opportunity to take the lead as their captain, and their most experienced player, Luka Modric stepped up to take it. It was never going to be easy to put the ball past Italian keeper Gianlugi Donnarumma. The veteran stepped up to take it and had to painfully watch his effort palmed away by Donnarumma. Croatia won the ball back straight away and kept it in the Italian half. Luka Sucic then whipped a ball into the penalty area, forcing another superb save from Donnarumma as he parried away Ante Bundimir’s effort from point blank range. Someone must have been looking down on Modric though as the ball fell straight into his path. The skipper found the perfect opportunity to redeem himself, smashing the ball into the roof of the net making sure there was no chance of a save. There was still a lot for Croatia to do with over half an hour left on the clock. They defended resiliently for the most of it, not giving the Itlalians anything. 

Over at the Dusseldorf Arena, it all finished 1-0, bringing an end to a disappointing tournament for Albania. They did have a chance to equalise at the end, Armando Broja seeing his toe poke from inside the penalty area saved by David Raya. This result meant Spain topped the group without conceding a goal and winning every game while Albania would most likely finish bottom as Croatia only had a few minutes to play in their tie with the score 1-0.

What came next in the Croatia game was so heartbreaking it almost seemed unfair after coming so close in the last 2 World Cups and losing to Spain in the final of the Nations League. With just 30 seconds left to play and Italy’s knockout hopes on the verge of extinction, centre back Riccardo Calafiori made a driving run forwards through the guts of the pitch. After defending so well for 90 minutes, the tired Croatian players made an attempt to dispossess Calafiori and clear the ball to end the game. Unfortunately, this is exactly what he wanted, drawing them all out of position and shape. Calafiori then played it out wide to Mattia Zaccangi who had acres of space around him. What Zaccangi was to conjure up next was a thing of beauty, side footing the ball into the top right corner from outside the penalty area, leaving Croatian keeper Livakovic with no chance. Italy drew the game and took back 2nd place in the group, leaving Luka Modric and Croatia 3rd place with a grim 2 points. Croatia didn’t deserve it after their display, but that is the cruel nature of football. With just 2 points, they are left with a very slim chance of getting through and the players knew it. Italy will play Switzerland in the Round of 16 while Spain will play the 3rd placed team from either Group A/D/E/F.

Written by Ollie Wade