Spain keeps it late in Euro opener
Print Edition
GERARD Pique finally broke down the Czech Republic’s stubborn defense with a goal in the 87th minute to give Spain a 1-0 victory in the opening match of its European Championship title defense yesterday.
Pique ran behind the defenders and calmly headed the ball into the net after a well-placed left-flank cross by Andres Iniesta to give Spain the Group D victory. The two-time defending champion had created a series of scoring chances throughout the match at the Stadium de Toulouse in France but looked set to being denied victory by a brilliant performance from the Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech.
The Czechs had a great chance to break the deadlock in the 65th minute but Cesc Fabregas saved Spain with a goal-line clearance after a header by Theodor Gebre Selassie.
The result left Spain and Croatia atop Group D with three points each. Croatia defeated Turkey 1-0 on Sunday.
It was Spain’s first win in the opening match of a major tournament since beating Russia 4-1 at Euro 2008.
On Sunday, Germany began its campaign to add the European Championship to its 2014 World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Ukraine. Shkodran Mustafi’s header set Germany on its way to a win that was sealed by substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger in the second minute of injury time, just two minutes after the midfielder had come on to the pitch.
The day’s earlier matches both ended in 1-0 victories, with a wonder strike from Luka Modric seeing Croatia past Turkey in a bruising encounter and Arkadiusz Milik scoring for Poland against Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, a French court convicted two English fans of involvement in rioting in Marseille and sentenced them to two months and three months in prison. Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said 150 Russian hooligans were behind much of the violence that broke out in Marseille ahead of the England-Russia game on Saturday.
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