Euro24 : Spain , Switzerland starts with clinical wins as Croatia, Hungary bite the dust

 

Spain kicked off their Euro campaign in superb style by beating Luka Modric's aging Croatia 3-0 in Germany.

 Except for the first 20 minutes, Spain dominated the rest of the match.  Croatia could not stand in front of them.  

 Spain was slightly ahead before the start of the game.  Because most of their footballers are young.  On the other hand, the average age of this team in Croatia is over 30 years.  Croatia's coach Zlatko Dalic arranged the team with those old guards Modric, Brozovic, Kramarich.  In the Spain team there were young footballers like Pedri, Rodri, Lemin Yamal.  As a result, Croatia started the game better, but Spain showed more power and control as time went on.

 Croatia had more of the ball at their feet for the first 20 minutes.  Modric was trying to attack with small passes.  But Spain's defense was solid.  Dani Carvajal, Nacho, Cucurellas were playing well.  In the 28th minute, against the pace of the game, captain Alvaro Morata gave Spain the lead.  Rodri received the ball in the midfield and extended the pass to the defense.  Morata scored with a cool left foot shot after entering the box after that pass.

Spain increased the lead four minutes later.  Fabian Ruiz scored this time.  He got the ball outside the box, beat two defenders with a single dribble and entered the box with a left foot shot.  Croatia conceded two goals in four minutes.  One Spanish attack after another for the remainder of the first half put pressure on Croatia.  Its results also match.  Carvajal scored the team's third goal in first-half stoppage time when he headed home Yamal's cross.  It is there that the fate of the game becomes clear.

 In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Croatia launched one attack after another to repay the goal.  But coming to the box, all their attacks were lost.  Modric could not give the final pass at all.  The coach forced Perisic down.  Picked up Modric.  Dalic tried to add more spice to the attack by bringing down Petkovic.  But goal mouth was not opening at all.

 In the 78th minute, Petkovic was fouled in the box and Croatia got a penalty.  Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon saved Petkovic's shot from the spot by jumping to the right.  Petkovic scored from the return ball.  But it can be seen in Var that a footballer from Croatia was offside.  So the goal is disallowed.  In the rest of the time, Croatia could not open the mouth of the goal despite many efforts.  In the end they had to leave the field after losing 0-3.

Switzerland v Hungary

Earlier , Switzerland kicked off their Euro 24 campaign with a resounding 3-1 victory over Hungary. The Swiss team led 2-0 at halftime. Despite facing pressure from Hungary and conceding a goal in the second half, they sealed the win with a goal in injury time.

Switzerland took just 12 minutes to dampen Hungary's hopes. Aebischer threaded a perfectly weighted pass through the Hungarian defense, setting up Duah to slot a low finish past Peter Gulacsi. Initially, Duah's celebration was cut short by an offside flag, but VAR overturned the decision, confirming the goal.

Ruben Vargas nearly doubled the lead moments later after intercepting a stray pass from Milos Kerkez. However, his shot was deflected off Gulacsi's shoulder, leaving the Swiss fans momentarily frustrated. Hungary's Willi Orban had a chance to halt Switzerland's momentum with a close-range header, but it went straight to Yann Sommer.

The pivotal moment came just before halftime when Aebischer scored Switzerland's second goal. A flowing move culminated in Aebischer curling a brilliant strike from 25 yards into the far corner, leaving Hungary on the back foot.

Hungary pulled one back in the 66th minute through Varga, who made up for an earlier miss by diving to head in a precise cross from Dominik Szoboszlai. Despite Hungary's efforts to find an equalizer, Embolo came off the bench to secure Switzerland's victory with a composed chip over Gulacsi in the final seconds.