"I can guarantee that, before that goal went in, plenty of fans were thinking the same thing I was. They thought Spain were simply taking tactics from different clubs and applying them directly to their own team."
"But the tactical shift that created this goal showed us that Spain aren't merely copying other clubs. They've moved away from their traditional counterattacking style, and they aren't playing possession football either. Instead, they're playing a much more attack-minded brand of football!"
"Morata scored the goal, even though he hadn't played particularly well before that."
"Morata may be Spain's regular center forward now, but after almost every match, I still see Diego Costa's name in the comments."
"Some fans even say that every time they watch Morata play, they miss Diego Costa even more!"
"This goal will earn Morata greater recognition from Spain's supporters. I'm certain of it."
Morata was thanking the Spanish fans, while Leo Lin put an arm around him and urged them to keep supporting him.
He hoped Morata would gain more confidence. The more confident Morata became, the more goals Spain would score.
Hierro remained completely unmoved by the celebration and instead began discussing their next tactical adjustment with Zubizarreta.
The opening group match resumed, and Danielson began taking on more responsibility in Sweden's build-up from the back.
Sweden's attack had looked promising at first, but Spain gradually figured it out.
No matter which route their passing moves followed, the ball always ended up at Isak's feet.
As long as Laporte kept Isak under control, he effectively shut down the endpoint of Sweden's attack. Once the flag at the finish line had been removed, the batons carried by every runner along Sweden's relay became meaningless.
Sweden's passing routes began to lose direction, and even the urgency disappeared from their attacks.
In the 39th minute.
"Isak has been almost completely contained by Laporte. Sweden's main attacking threat now is Berg."
"But he doesn't seem to have any answers against Pau Torres either. Both Swedish forwards have had their opportunities and attacking routes cut off!"
With their center forwards getting nowhere, Sweden could only rely on their wide players.
Forsberg and Larsson could not find any opportunities to cross, so they were forced to carry the ball themselves. But Spain's defending on both flanks was equally strong.
Llorente was at the peak of his form as a right back. Defending Forsberg one-on-one, he had not lost a single duel.
"Forsberg carries the ball forward and tries to break through. Llorente doesn't commit on the first move, then wins it with the second. He read Forsberg's route perfectly!"
"He gives it to Rodri. A through ball!"
"Pedri is racing forward. He sends it on, and Leo Lin is even faster!"
"They threaten Olsen again and win Spain another corner!"
Pedri took the corner once more, but this time Danielson cleared it.
Sweden had narrowly escaped. With no way through on Forsberg's side, Larsson began trying to get past Alba on the right.
But while Llorente had only recently begun showing what he could do at right back, Alba had been performing consistently at left back for Barcelona for years.
He was a top-class fullback capable of maintaining that level throughout a match.
In the 40th minute.
"Here comes Larsson again. He tries to take on Alba, but Alba wins the ball! He read Larsson's route perfectly!"
"Sweden simply cannot break through Spain's defense. Their combinations aren't creating chances, and they can't find a way through one-on-one either. Isak hasn't taken a shot in a long time, and Berg has practically disappeared!"
The first half of the group match came to an end, and Spain's supporters already felt the three points were theirs.
"Morata's goal ultimately separated the teams in the first half. Sweden created quite a few chances early on, but once Spain's defense tied them down, they barely managed another dangerous attack!"
"Scholes, if you were Sweden's head coach, what would you do now to help them escape this situation?"
Scholes thought back over Sweden's first-half performance. After considering it carefully, he realized he did not have any particularly good solution either.
"It's difficult to say."
"I've always felt that Sweden's insistence on finding Isak was the wrong approach from the beginning."
"They should use other players to draw Spain's attention first, then give Isak the ball when a good opportunity appears. That's how they can bring out his ability."
"But if they force the ball to him whether the opportunity is good or not, what is he supposed to do?"
"He'll have to fight desperately even for poor chances and burn through his energy. Then, when a genuine opportunity finally comes, he'll be too exhausted to show what he can do. In the end, they'll still get nothing!"
Scholes had identified the real issue, and Sweden's head coach had noticed it as well.
"In the second half, stop trying to pass to Isak every single time!"
"Look at the situation first. Give him the ball when the opportunity is there. If it isn't, don't force it!"
"If you can't get past their fullbacks, play it into midfield and let the midfielders attack."
That was about all Sweden's head coach could arrange.
Sweden were certainly strong enough to be considered one of Europe's top sides, but at least for now, Spain were still clearly superior.
When the second half resumed, Sweden did stop forcing the ball toward Isak at every opportunity. Unfortunately, there were not many good chances to find him either.
Spain's opportunities increased significantly. Their sudden shifts from defense to attack, moving from build-up play into counterattacks and then into low crosses, made them almost impossible for Sweden to contain. Spain simply had too many attacking targets inside the Swedish penalty area.
In the 52nd minute.
"Unai Simón's style is quite similar to Alisson's. He plays it to Rodri, who moves it out to Llorente. Spain begin an attack down the right."
"Olmo offers himself, then switches play over a long distance to Oyarzabal."
"Oyarzabal takes on his man out wide. He's very agile."
"He cuts inside and plays it into the middle. Leo Lin receives it!"
"Then he slips it through to Pedri!"
The moment Pedri received the ball, he charged toward Sweden's penalty area. He shifted the ball past one defender, then continued straight at Danielson.
When he ran out of space to shoot, he suddenly dragged the ball back, turned, and laid it off to Leo Lin, who had already begun his run-up behind him.
Almost every Swedish player was watching Leo Lin. Anyone close enough rushed toward him immediately. Nobody wanted to give Leo Lin a chance to shoot.
Leo Lin had deliberately started his run-up early so he could strike without hesitation, and Pedri's pass gave him plenty of room to set himself.
He looked at Olsen and studied his eyes. From Olsen's gaze, Leo Lin judged which way the goalkeeper intended to dive, then raised his foot and drove the ball toward goal.
The powerful shot flew straight at the net. Olsen dived to his left. He had read the direction correctly.
But Danielson stretched out a leg to block it. The ball struck the back of his heel and deflected to Olsen's right.
With Danielson's help, Leo Lin beat Olsen!
"Leo Lin scores! He has to thank Danielson, and so does the entire Spain team. Without that deflection, Olsen probably would have saved it!"
"Olsen had to defend against Leo Lin's shot and Danielson at the same time!"
"Spain two, Sweden nil!"
"Morata and Leo Lin have scored, while Pedri has provided both assists!"
"Leo Lin's performance hardly needs any more praise, but Pedri deserves plenty."
"The last player to perform this brilliantly for Spain at such a young age in a major tournament was Leo Lin. Now Pedri has become the next Leo Lin!"
"Both assists were excellent. Pedri's style in midfield has given both Barcelona and Spain an outstanding player!"
"Spain are about to claim their first three points of this European Championship and take an important step toward qualifying from the group!"
...
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