Spain knocks Germany out of “their” competition and qualifies again for the semi-finals

Forced into extra time by the host country, Spain finally won after a thrilling match on Friday.

It’s already over for the Nationalelf in their own Euro. Taken into extra time, Spain secured a narrow 2-1 victory over Germany on Friday, July 5 in Stuttgart and will meet the winner of the other quarter-final between France and Portugal in the semi-finals. Dani Olmo, who scored after coming on as a substitute, provided Mikel Merino with the goal that sent La Roja to the semi-finals of a European Championship once again, three years after reaching the same stage of the competition at Euro 2021.

Spain can thank a stroke of luck as Pedri, who was placed as number 10 behind Alvaro Morata, had to leave his place in the 8th minute following a bad tackle by Toni Kroos, who did not receive a card for the move. But his replacement, Dani Olmo, allowed La Roja to break the deadlock in a very physical match during the first 45 minutes, by taking a perfect cross from Lamine Yamal that he pushed away with the flat of his foot (1-0, 52nd), before freeing Spain by delivering a caviar for Mikel Merino’s header (2-1, 119th). In the meantime, Florian Wirtz had equalized in extremis on a cross from Joshua Kimmich to force extra time (1-1, 89th).

The other hero of the match was Unai Simon, who made five saves against a German attack that multiplied its attempts at the end of the second half. Always well positioned in his goal, the Spaniard successively stopped a shot from Robert Andrich (70th), then a header from Kai Havertz (86th), after seeing a shot from Niclas Füllkrug crash against his post (76th). In extra time, the Basque goalkeeper came out on top again in a duel against Florian Wirtz (100th) and shone again with a reflex save against the German number 9 (117th).

If Unai Simon continued to shine, it is because Julian Nagelsmann also quickly made the choice of “all for the attack” once the game was advanced, preferring to upset his balance by taking off midfielder Ilkay Gündogan and defender Jonathan Tah in favor of attackers Niclas Füllkrug and Thomas Müller. Opposite, Luis de la Fuente made the opposite bet, replacing his entire attacking line before the 80th minute, despite convincing performances. A choice that ultimately paid off since it was Mikel Merino, coming on in place of Nico Williams, who freed his team.