La Cartuja was the place where Spain played the Euro 2020 opener against the Sweden National Team. We have the player ratings.
The Spain National Team played as a local in La Cartuja against Sweden for the Euro 2020 match opener. Luis Enrique has been heavily criticized for not calling all the players who were considered ideal to represent their country. Namely Sergio Ramos or Daniel Carvajal were surprising absentees for this call-up list. Instead of them, the manager decided to call on less experienced players in their positions.
Today, none of them truly made a difference against a painfully modest Swedish squad that was also missing an injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic. During the first half, the Spanish players dominated ball possession but they couldn’t penetrate Sweden’s defense too much. Alvaro Morata had the clearest chance to score but he sent his shot too wide as he stood in front of the goalkeeper. This ghastly mistake cost him his spot during the second half, Luis Enrique decided too late on the substitutes.
Spain drowns in their own plain style of play.
Luis Enrique truly believed this Spain side had what it takes to actually compete for the title but he showed us something very different. Playing like this, the Spanish side will struggle to get a positive result against the strongest national teams in the tournament. None of the players on the attack were able to change the final outcome of this frankly boring game.
The inclusion of players like Thiago Alcantara, Gerard Moreno, Fabian, or any other player didn’t live up to the expectation. When the final whistle sounded, all the supporters in La Cartuja jeered the national team because they hated what they saw on the pitch. All of them need to understand that the dominant Spain squad from 2008-2012 is gone and it will never come back.
Player ratings
Spain: Simon (6), Alba (6), Laporte (6), Pau Torres (6), Koke (5), Rodri (6), Llorente (5), Olmo (5), Pedri (7), F. Torres (6), Morata (4).
Bench: Sarabia (6), Thiago (6), Fabian (5), Oyarzabal (5), Moreno (5).
Sweden: Olsen (6), Lustig (6), Danielsson (6), Lindelof (6), Agustinsson (6), Larsson (6), Ekdal (6), Forsberg (6), Olsson (6), Berg (6), Isak (7).
Bench: Claesson (5), Quaison (5), Krafth (6), Bengtsson (5), Cajuste (5).
Feel free to make your pick on player’s ratings and performances in the widget below.
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