Spain pardoned Sweden . Luis Enrique’s selection besieged his rival in a remarkable first half but again ran into his desperate lack of goal. Special mention for Morata , denied face to door, who signed the pardon for the Swedes after failing a goal sung on the edge of half-time. In the second half, La Roja was diluted and even Sweden’s goal could arrive.
Spain debuted. I would like to tell you that with great expectation and enormous expectations, but you already have Pedro Sánchez to lie to you. It does not come out for me. The selection of Luis Enrique , more author than ever, orphan of leaders on the grass and with a single alpha male on the bench, does not have much pull. Every day we live longer than any past time was better and we tried to find Casillas in Unai Simón , Iniesta in Pedri or Villa in Morata and Nanay.
But these are our oxen and we have to plow with them. For the premiere, Luis Enrique chose a predictable eleven but with his sparks of surprise. Unai Simón, that goalkeeper on the verge of a nervous breakdown, is the one he likes the most, so let’s play. In the defense Marcos Llorente of false right back, Pau Torres and the nationalized Laporte of centrals and Jordi Alba in the left side. Ahead Rodri played Busquets, escorted by veteran Koke and kid Pedri. Up the sides were for Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo and the 9 for Morata, more to the liking of Luis Enrique than Gerard Moreno at least to play against Sweden.
It was very hot in Seville in these early summer days. More than La Cartuja it looked like the grill. And at those it was nine o’clock and the game began. Raudo Spain made a chalet in the field of Sweden , which they defended with the bat tactic. Ours played, widened the field and played manual football. Jordi Alba percussed on the left while Llorente penetrated on the right.
Sweden resisted the initial arreón of Spain as best it could. Two corners in five minutes and fixed cameras in the Nordic area. The first clear chance for La Roja was in his head Dani Olmo , who hit a good cross from Koke . When half Spain sang a goal, Olsen pulled out a saving hand. Luis Enrique, sitting in the refrigerator, put his hands to his head.
Manda Spain
Seven minutes later it was Koke , ubiquitous and undetectable at the same time. The Atlético midfielder peered into the area after slashing a wall and caught a low shot that went to the left of Olsen . Spain was around the goal but hanging around is not scoring. The good thing, that we had intensity without the ball and rhythm with it. The bad, that it costs us a world to score a goal.
Again the goal returned to make the cobra to Koke at the edge of the half hour. Again second-line arrival and again a somewhat forced point-blank auction that went to the Expo. Spain continued to besiege a Sweden that was barely leaving its own field.
In those appeared Morata. Of course, possessed by the spirit of Higuaín ( Moratín , like that of The Yes of the Girls ) or Vinicius ( Moraticius ). Spain striker himself alone sung Olsen after a Swedish center. He could choose between dribbling the goalkeeper, putting it on the top or looking for the side. He chose the last option but forgot which goal is within three suits , not outside. If he does it in the Wanda, he gets a whistle of don’t wiggle.
Sweden also has its Morata. His name is Isak and he does everything well except score. It is true that the young Swedish talent still has years to go to reinsert himself with the goal, but against Spain he wasted a chance in the area that ended with a troubled shot that died on the left post of Unai Simón.
Luis Enrique was desperate. He needed to put on his boots and leave nine. The first half disappeared not without a last chance from Dani Olmo, whose shot from the front was rejected not without trouble by the Swedish goalkeeper, who has not had an equal hero since Olof Palme .
Morata and his bad leg
Spain returned from the break ready to maintain their dominance and, if possible, score a goal. The first time was the stubborn Morata , able to fight like a pensioner in the queue of the bank, but unable to see the goal. His first shot of the second half ended up in his comfort zone: out.
Suddenly La Roja raised her foot. What if the heat, what if the rhythm of the first half, what if the lack of goal … What they want. Sweden began to show signs of finding space behind our plants. After the hour of the game Isak danced a chotis within the area of Spain and assisted Berg, who only had to push her into the goal. He did it but incomprehensibly out. La Cartuja was silent as if a procession were passing.
In 65 Luis Enrique moved the bench. Thiago for Rodri and Sarabia for Morata . Ferran, the player with the most goals in Spain in the absence of Sergio Ramos , became the center forward, which did not last ten minutes because the coach replaced him with Oyarzabal . He also got Gerard Moreno for a cast Dani Olmo. The Swedish coach did his thing for Spain by removing Isak, his best footballer by far, from the field.
The minutes passed and we planted ourselves in the 80 with the 0-0 in the electronic one of La Cartuja. Spain had lost steam in the second half and the changes had not improved Luis Enrique’s team. They kept trying to the end, but their attacks became predictable and harmless. Gerard Moreno had the goal in his head in the 90th minute but Olsen aborted it with a saving foot. In the end, Sweden was able to resist because it defended itself with order and profession and knew how to start a meritorious 0-0 against a Spain that went from more to less and that once again showed that it has a good foot to play football and very bad to score goals.
