Spain’s Joselu on Thursday pounced with two minutes remaining to snatch a 2-1 win over Italy and set up a UEFA Nations League final against Croatia.
Luis de la Fuente’s side shaded a tight battle in Enschede to progress to tomorrow’s final, where Zlatko Dalic’s outfit are lying in wait after beating hosts the Netherlands on Wednesday.
Yeremy Pino sent La Roja ahead after three minutes, but Ciro Immobile netted from the penalty spot to level and the game seemed destined for extra-time before Joselu prodded home from point-blank range to win it.
Photo: Reuters
The victory eases the pressure on De la Fuente, who had been heavily criticized after March’s loss to Scotland, in what was only his second game in charge.
Joselu, who has three goals in three games under the new coach, who handed him his debut, managed to stay onside and convert after Rodri Hernandez’s effort was deflected into his path.
The poacher, 33, was relegated with RCD Espanyol this season, but netted 16 times in La Liga.
“I am very happy for everyone, the group and the coach deserve it,” Jesus Navas, who became Spain’s oldest ever player at 37, told Spanish broadcaster TVE. “We played with great intensity, we’re delighted and we can be very proud of getting ourselves into the final. It’s a beautiful and hard-fought triumph, this is the way we have to go to achieve success.”
De la Fuente handed new “signing” Robin Le Normand his debut alongside another French-born centerback Aymeric Laporte at De Grolsch Veste.
The Manchester City defender and his teammate Rodri were playing after tasting UEFA Champions League success last Saturday, with the latter scoring the winning goal against Inter in the final.
Mancini lined up with three at the back, giving veteran centerback Leonardo Bonucci a start despite his patchy season with Juventus.
Italy immediately paid the price, with captain Bonucci robbed on the edge of his own penalty area under pressure from Gavi and Yeremy Pino, with the latter driving into the area and firing past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
However, the Azzurri quickly pulled themselves level when Le Normand handled Nicolo Zaniolo’s effort.
Striker Ciro Immobile dispatched the penalty, back with the side for the first time since their catastrophic World Cup playoff defeat by North Macedonia in March last year.
US Sassuolo midfielder David Frattesi ran onto Jorginho’s chip and slotted Italy’s second past Unai Simon, chosen in goal over Kepa Arrizabalaga, but it was ruled out for offside.
Alvaro Morata forced Donnarumma into a solid save down to his right as Spain played on the counterattack, willing to go long to find the Atletico Madrid striker in an end-to-end affair, the 40th “Mediterranean derby.”
Spain thrashed Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final and won in the 2021 Nations League semi-finals, while Italy won Euro 2020 after beating Spain on penalties in the semi-finals.
Mancini sent on Inter duo Federico Dimarco and Matteo Darmian at halftime, withdrawing Bonucci after his early mishap.
Spain emerged the steadier and Morata might have sent La Roja ahead again, but fired fractionally wide on the turn after Donnarumma denied Mikel Merino.
Rodri almost followed up his Istanbul heroics with another strike, zipping an acrobatic effort narrowly over.
Italy hit back, with Simon pulling off a superb save to deny Fratessi from close range.
The final half hour slowed to a snail’s pace, with the long season taking its toll on weary legs.
De la Fuente turned to Ansu Fati and Joselu for a boost in attack, while Mancini brought on Juve forward Federico Chiesa.
In the end it was Joselu who made the difference, one of the players De la Fuente can claim as his own, the goal offering a double boost to the coach as it helped Spain through to the final in Rotterdam.
“Spain deserved the win even if they scored late on,” Mancini said. “Playing a slightly different way than usual tactically has probably cost us in the end.”
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS