Spain’s defeat against Italy confirms a new chapter in the unfortunate history of a country used to losing – as always – after playing like never before in the tournament. The exceptional golden generation of the Xavi, Iniesta, Casillas or Ramos has given way to a litter of young talents under the radar until this European Championship. The new Spain , for many of Pedri, was against Italy, even above the great performance of the canary, the Spain of Dani Olmo , a player in a trance during the 120 minutes and whose enormous performance was not even tarnished by his failure in the penalty.
Olmo was the leader of a team that tactically and technically imposed on his rival, even in courage, and in all respects it was thanks to the leadership of the RB Leipzig player, first false nine and later dominating the three-quarter line from a left winger position, also false. Olmo deceived everyone with his position , with his controls and his connections with the forwards. And incidentally, it is placed in the showcase of the greats of Europe , who aim to bid for the Tarrasa footballer.
Italy came to its meeting with Spain as the team that had played the best game in the Eurocup, but Luis Enrique’s approach, with Dani Olmo as a false nine , made their offensive system collapse, forcing them to wait for the counter. Merit of the coach, but impossible to succeed without his strut, who dizzy in the support in the first half, although he was not successful in the face of the rival frame.
Olmo, however, sublimated football in the second half . Absolutely liberated, he found inspiration to appear between the lines and tie the Italian midfielders and defenders, who did not know where the Catalan was going to appear, but would do so with surgical precision. Dani’s controls always improved the play, as well as his passes, demonstrated in the tie in Spain, where he served as an unbeatable squire in the goal of Álvaro Morata.
Penalties , just like they came up against Switzerland, were treacherous against Italy. Dani Olmo , full of confidence after his great game, aimed to shoot the first, but his launch went through the roof minutes before Jorginho sealed the elimination of Spain. The saying that the best fail in the batch was again fulfilled with the authentic MVP of the Italy-Spain.
Change of scene for Olmo?
At the age of 23, Olmo is an emerging talent who emerged under the radar at Dinamo Zagreb , a club he came to from the Barcelona youth academy. Measuring the steps and taking a wrong path for many, Dani was sticking his head in Croatia causing that in the lower categories they did not forget his name. Every time he arrived in Spain, this appositional genius made a difference. It happened in the 2019 European Under-21, two years before what was assumed by age, and it has happened again in this European Championship.
Dani’s performance, culminating in an extraordinary performance against Italy, will not go unnoticed by top European teams. In Spain he has his options such as Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid, which were already related to the Tarrassa attacker and Olmo himself acknowledged in a recent interview with OKDIARIO that he would like to play in Spain. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich in Germany, and several greats of the Premier League remained attentive to Olmo’s developments. Now they have confirmed it. At a maximum level of competitiveness and tension, the jewel of Tarrasa also performs and does so as the leader and crack of the Spanish team.
