Dani Olmo refreshed Luis de la Fuente’s memory. And Spain was grateful. The number 10 took charge in Stuttgart, knocked the hosts out and sealed La Roja’s passage to the semi-finals. His record: one goal and one assist. He has now doubled his statistics in Germany, with two goals, two assists, and also won the MVP of the match at the MHP Arena. “I’m exhausted, but what a great team we have, how we fought until the end. In these last few plays we played with our hearts. We have to enjoy it now, but calmly,” analysed the Catalan footballer.
2
Unai Simon, Robin Le Normand (Nacho, min. 45), Marc Cucurella, Dani Carvajal, Aymeric Laporte, Rodri, Pedri (Dani Olmo, min. 7), Fabian Ruiz (Joselu, min. 101), Nico Williams (Mikel Merino, min. 79), Alvaro Morata (Mikel Oyarzabal, min. 79) and Lamine Yamal (Ferran Torres, min. 62)
1
Manuel Neuer, Antonio Rüdiger, David Raum (Maximilian Mittelstädt, min. 56), Jonathan Tah (Thomas Müller, min. 79), Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala, Emre Can (Robert Andrich, min. 45), Leroy Sané (Florian Wirtz, min. 45), Ilkay Gündogan (Niclas Füllkrug, min. 56), Toni Kroos and Kai Havertz (Waldemar Anton, min. 90)
Goals
1-0 min. 50: Dani Olmo. 1-1 min. 88: Florian Wirtz. 2-1 min. 118: Merino
Referee Anthony Taylor
Yellow cards
Rüdiger (min. 12), David Raum (min. 27), Le Normand (min. 28), Robert Andrich (min. 55), Kroos (min. 66), Mittelstädt (min. 72), Ferran Torres (min. 73), Unai Simon (min. 81), Nico Schlotterbeck (min. 89), Florian Wirtz (min. 93), Dani Carvajal (min. 99), Rodrigo (min. 109), Deniz Undav (min. 112), Fabian (min. 120)
Red cards
Dani Carvajal (min. 125)
Last week, before Spain thrashed Georgia in the round of 16, Dani Olmo was confident that he would regain his place in the starting eleven. And since he knew that it was no longer enough for him to be one of De la Fuente’s favourite players, he redoubled his efforts in training. But it was no use. Against Georgia, Pedri again beat him to the punch as La Roja’s playmaker. The same situation before visiting Stuttgart to challenge the power of the host country: Olmo on the bench. He had to wait.
De la Fuente, as never before in his time with the national team, stuck to a starting eleven. In fact, as never before in La Roja since Vicente del Bosque left. Against Germany, Spain repeated a team after eight years, or what is the same, after 97 matches. June 27, 2016, at the Euro in France, was the last match in which Spain had the same eleven from one match to the next.
The coach used the same team that had beaten Georgia against Spain. The strategy lasted six minutes. After a strong foul by Kroos, Pedri had to leave the field. “Internal lateral sprain in the left knee,” the Spanish Federation reported. Pedri was replaced by Dani Olmo. “The championship belongs to everyone, I hope Pedri only has a knock. This victory is for Pedri,” said the Spanish number 10.
The change was expected. Not only because of the position (attacking midfielder for attacking midfielder) but because since he was relegated to the bench, Olmo has always been the first choice for De la Fuente. The number 10 had not lost his place on the field, but in the infirmary. The Catalan arrived at the Euro in a bad way. “I had both calves in the last play, I took a risk, I couldn’t take it anymore,” said Dani Olmo.
But it wasn’t just Dani Olmo, De la Fuente’s first choice on the bench, who got La Roja going against Germany. Nacho defended; Joselu, Oyarzabal and Ferran Torres refreshed the attack; and Mikel Merino scored. “I’m exhausted, it was a unique moment. A goal in the 119th minute after a spectacular job. They are two of the best teams in the world, it could have been a final. We expected a match like this, we knew how to suffer. My father scored here and I made my debut for Spain here. It’s something special,” said Merino, who celebrated his goal with a turn around the corner flag, a carbon copy of his father’s celebration in this very stadium, who had scored one of the goals, when Osasuna eliminated Stuttgart in the 1991 UEFA Cup.
Merino’s celebration
Merino scored. And Olmo excelled. Against Germany, however, it was everyone’s fault. Also De la Fuente’s. “God forbid, it’s not my merit. It’s a merit of human quality. My only merit is that I know them and I know they won’t let me down. Some or others can play, but we will always be proud of them. It’s a committed group, which is an example for a country, for a society and for sportsmen. They always want to be a little better,” said the Spanish coach.
Olmo had already reminded him why he had always trusted him. And the number 10 concluded: “Luis plays a very important role in my life. He always trusted me. He did so when I was in Croatia. We won the U21 championship and now we have the chance to be together in the senior team.”
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