On the second match day of the knockout stage of the European Championship, the favourites England and Spain both advanced to the quarter-finals in a reversal manner, but the process and persuasiveness were very different.
Spain hit 35 shots on goal all over the game, scored four goals in a row after conceding an own goal, and eliminated Georgia 4-1 without suspense; England were just 30 seconds away from being out of the game before Jude Bellingham levelled in stoppage time before Kane won with an extra-time header.
Spain 4-1 Georgia
The three-time European Championship champions played against the new Georgia, Georgia quickly counterattacked in the 18th minute of the first half, Kakabadze crossed from the right, Lenormand cleared the ball and accidentally set himself up an own goal, and Spain fell behind 0-1.
At the critical moment, Rodri stepped up! On 39 minutes, Nico Williams crossed the top of the arc and Rodri equalised with a low left-footed shot to the ground. In the second half, Yamal assisted Fabian Ruiz to take the lead, Nico Williams countered with a shot from a tight angle to extend the lead, and substitute Olmo added the icing on the cake to give Spain a 4-1 lead.
This score was benevolent to Georgia, and Spain was completely one-sided against Georgia in the whole game, with 13 shots on target from 35 shots, both of which were the most in a single game in this European Championship. Georgia had only 4 shots on goal with 0 on target.
Had it not been for goalkeeper Mamadashvili's outstanding performance and nine saves, the final result might have been 8-1 or 9-1, as Spain boss de la Fuente said.
Mamadashvili made 30 saves in four games in this tournament, second only to Akinfeev in 2008 (six). There was no shame in losing to the Matadors, and after the game, the Georgian players thanked the fans for their support with a Viking battle cry and left with their heads held high.
According to statistics from UEFA's official website, Spain has set the largest margin of points for a European Cup reversal victory. Spain won their first four games, the first time in the team's history that this achievement has been unlocked in a major tournament (World Cup + European Cup). The 13 shots on target in a single game were more than England's previous four combined (12).
Spain's main team is all online, Nico Williams passes, Fabian Ruiz passes to make 4 goals in 4 games, and 16-year-old Yamal provides another assist...... Rodri, the team's actual number one, was in stable form and was voted the official best player.
In this game, Rodri scored the equalizer, 129 touches, 117 passes and 109 successes, a pass completion rate of 93.2%, 3 successful tackles, 4 successful ground duels, 2 successful aerial duels, and a number of statistics lead.
In the running statistics list, Rodri also became the first in the team with an astonishing 12.01 km. Considering Rodri's outstanding performances at the club for nearly two years, the title of the current world No. 1 midfielder, Manchester City deserves the title of true nucleus.
In the quarter-finals, Spain will face another favorite to win the tournament, Germany, which is the joint team with the most titles in European Championship history. This game is considered to be the final that came early, but it is a pity that only one team can make it to the final four!
England 2-1 Slovakia
Compared with Spain's calm and devastating reversal, the Three Lions (1.52 billion) struggled to face Slovakia (157 million), which is only 1/10 of itself, and escaped death at the last moment.
In the first 16 minutes of the opening period, Guehi, Mainou and Bellingham were dyed yellow in a row, and in the 24th minute, Schlandz scored a single goal to lead 1-0, and England was quite passive in the first half.
Foden scored a goal in the second half but was flagged offside, Rice fired a long-range shot off the post, and the stars England attacked without tactical coordination and relied solely on individual play. In the last 30 seconds of 5 minutes of injury shooting, Bellingham equalized with an upside-down golden hook in the penalty area! It was only their first shot on target of the game!
In extra-time, England woke up like a dream, substitute Ivan Toney assisted with a header, Kane relayed in, and finally England eliminated Slovakia 2-1 and advanced to the last eight against Switzerland.
Gareth Southgate said after the game that he had a hunch that England would not be eliminated and that they were not aiming to reach the last eight. Brother Meow suggested that he kowtow to the two big dads of Belin and Kane first and then talk well, Real Madrid, Bayern, Manchester City, Arsenal and other giants core + absolute main force are piled together like strangers, who is responsible if the head coach is not responsible?
According to ESPN statistics, Bellingham has played 51 games for club and country this season, scoring 27 goals and providing 15 assists, averaging one goal in 105 minutes.
Bellingham scored six goals in stoppage time, including four goals for Real Madrid, including two national derby strikes against Barcelona, England equalized two goals and was voted MVP 16 times. Behring doesn't carry, England really has to go home!