Spain’s national team survived a huge scare to knock out Germany from the Euro 2024 after 120 minutes of a thrilling encounter.
Ahead of the quarter-final clash at the MHPArena, Spain were seen as the favourites to win the match even though they were going against the hosts, Germany.
Recall that Spain recorded three straight wins in the group stage against tough oppositions like Croatia, Italy, and a lowly-rated Albania. They ended the fairytale run of Georgia in the round of 16 with a 4-1 bashing.
Hence, it was expected to be a tough game for Germany who didn’t also have a bad run in the group stage of the campaign. They recorded two wins and a draw in the group stage. They beat Denmark 2-0 in the round of 16.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t keep up with the youthful Spanish side who are yet to drop a point so far in the competition.
26-year-old Dani Olmo scored the match opener in the 51st minute after a barren first half. The Spanish maintained the slim lead until in the 89th minute when Florian Wirtz scored the equalizer to push the game into extra time.
When most spectators thought the game would be decided by penalties, Mikel Merino cut short the expectation by scoring the winner for Spain in the 119th minute.
With that, Spain knocked out Germany with a 2-1 scoreline as they booked themselves a place in the semi-finals.
The win didn’t only knockout Germany, it confirmed the retirement of Toni Kroos, who had announced that he would retire from professional football immediately after Euro 2024.
