La Roja travelled to Russia on Friday evening to take on Switzerland in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020. The sides couldn’t be separated in normal and even extra-time, with Spain eventually winning a decisive penalty shootout 3-1 to secure their place in the semi-final.
Luis Enrique and his charges have come under serious criticism throughout the tournament, with Spain opening their campaign with two disappointing draws against Sweden and Poland at La Cartuja down in Seville. They broke their duct against Slovakia, however, hammering them 5-0, before seeing off Croatia in Copenhagen. Spain, as a country, has started to dream.
Expectation turned to excitement inside the opening ten minutes in Saint Petersburg, with Spain taking the lead in the eighth. The ball fell to Barcelona full-back Jordi Alba at the edge of the area and his well-struck effort nestled in the back of the net with the help of a kind deflection from Denis Zakaria.
Switzerland hit back heading into the final 20 minutes, however, when Xherdan Shaqiri made the most of shocking Spanish defending to make it 1-1. Spain pressed hard for a winner in vain, with the game running through extra-time to the dreaded penalty shootout. Spain remained cool, calm and collected throughout, however, Unai Simon making two saves and Mikel Oyarzabal scoring the winner.
SPAIN WIN IT ON PENALTIES!!! pic.twitter.com/c4Deb60hak
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 2, 2021
