Spain thrashed helpless Croatia 3-0 on Saturday in their opening match at Euro 2024 ongoing in Germany in a dominant fashion.
The match was one of the matches in Group B dubbed Group of death, which also included Italy and Albania, but Spain made it look so easy blowing away the fanciful Croatians.
The Spaniards wasted no time in spreading the ball to the flanks throughout. But it was a direct pass straight into the heart of the Croatia defence which helped La Roja banish the ghosts of their tepid goalscoring display at the last FIFA World Cup.
Álvaro Morata was set through before obliging with a composed finish into the bottom corner just before the half-hour mark – his seventh goal from 11 appearances in this competition, Flashscore reports.
The side draped in red were now bouncing and a whirlwind end to the first period saw midfielder Fabián Ruiz and Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal make it 3-0 to Spain before half time.
Firstly, Ruiz twisted and turned in the area before smashing past a helpless Dominik Livaković, before Carvajal knocked in a superb whipped delivery from gifted Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, who at 16 years old is now the youngest-ever player to feature in this tournament.
An emphatic start might not have surprised those who watched De la Fuente’s men breeze through qualification, but with their appetite barely whetted by an impressive first-half performance, this Spanish side clearly meant business as they continued to fire at their opponents’ net.
Croatia appeared shell-shocked, and a side who had beaten Portugal in their last outing weren’t even allowed the reprieve of a late consolation when Bruno Petković’s goal, which he tapped in after initially failing with his spot-kick, was ruled out by the VAR.
