Morata rises to occasion as Spain outlast Croatia in eight-goal thriller

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Spain held off a remarkable Croatian fightback to win 5-3 in a pulsating Euro 2020 last 16 knockout match on Monday thanks to goals from Alvaro Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal in extra time.

The three-times European champions will now face either France or Switzerland on July 2 in St. Petersburg

Spain and Croatia were drawing 3-3 after normal time, with the goals starting when goalkeeper Unai Simon failed disastrously to control a simple back-pass to give Croatia a shock 1-0 lead.

Spain looked like they had made amends with goals from Pablo Sarabia, Cesar Azpilicueta and Ferran Torres to go 3-1 up, until Mislav Orsic scored in the 85th minute and Mario Pasalic netted two minutes into stoppage time to level for Croatia.

Spain’s goals in extra time came after Simon had made a point blank save to stop Croatia taking the lead.

(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

Reuters

Photo Alvaro Morata (R) of Spain scores the 4-3 lead during the UEFA EURO 2020 round of 16 soccer match between Croatia and Spain in Copenhagen, Denmark, 28 June 2021. EPA-EFE/Friedemann Vogel / POOL