Author: Soorya G
The fifth qualifying round for the 2024 European Championship kicked off on Friday, with several prominent European soccer nations getting off to a winning start to their campaigns. Spain, Portugal and Croatia came away with important victories, especially Spain and Croatia, who were dominant in their respective matches.
Spain faced Georgia in their first group game at the Boris Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi. Hoping to come away with a victory, Spain wasted no time in taking control of the game. Marco Asensio almost opened the scoring after 90 seconds when his shot hit the post. Álvaro Morata was in excellent form, scoring in the 22nd minute. An own goal from Kverkveliya doubled Spain’s lead, before Fabian Ruiz scored in the 30th minute.
However, despite Ruiz’s goal being disallowed, Spain managed to add two more goals in the first half, one from Dani Olmo and the other from Morata, before de La Fuente brought on the substitutes, including Lamine Yamal.
Substitute Giorgi Chakvetadze’s goal at the start of the second half only served as a consolation for the hosts. Athletic Bilbao veteran Inaki Williams scored soon after Morata completed a brilliant hat-trick, while Yamal became Spain’s youngest goalscorer on his debut, aged just 16 years and 57 days.
In particular, Real Sociedad defender Robin Le Normand’s header hit the post, saving Georgia from yet another humiliation. The score was 7-1 at the end of the game. Meanwhile, in the group, Scotland won a convincing 3-0 victory over Cyprus.
The idol Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to play for Portugalwhich defeated Slovakia by 1 a 0 The Portuguese victory can be classified as a lucky break, as Roberto Mancini’s men failed to create any significant chances that threatened the Slovakian net. For most of the game, Slovakia’s defensive line, which includes players like former Inter defender Milan Skriniar, kept the Portuguese attack in check. However, a fatal error by the current Paris Saint-Germain player led to a goal for Mancini’s side, as Skriniar allowed Bruno Fernandes to advance and then finish fantastically into the opposite corner, well past Dubravka, giving Portugal the decisive lead. Other notable results in the group included Bosnia‘s 2-1 win over Lichtenstein and Luxembourg’s 3-1 victory over Iceland.
Another European giant, Croatia , also enjoyed their return to the international stage when the 2018 World Cup finalists thrashed Latvia 5-0. Zlatko Dalic’s side showed no signs of losing their incredible form as Bruno Petkovic’s brace propelled the Croatians to a fine victory. Dalic chose not to field veteran midfielder Mateo Kovacic, opting instead for a pivotal duo of Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic.
Croatia set the tone early on when Bruno Petkovic scored a free-kick from a reasonable distance that found the back of the net. Feyenoord striker Luka Ivanusec doubled Croatia’s lead just ten minutes later with a simple finish from close range, thanks to Petkovic’s brilliance. The score was soon 3-0, with Petkovic scoring twice to round off an influential first half, thanks to an assist from Ivan Perisic.
In the second half, Luka Modric almost scored, but his shot hit the crossbar. Mario Pasalic and Andrej Kramaric scored to complete the demolition job. Croatia were relentless in attack, hitting 28 shots at Latvia. In another group match, Turkey and Armenia played out a 1-1 draw.