By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Defending champions Spain made a winning, but unconvincing
start to their title defence on Monday afternoon in Toulouse.
Gerard Pique’s 87th minute headed goal was enough
to be a very cautious Czech Republic side 1-0 in their EURO 2016 opener.
Although Spain completely dominated possession and had a
number of sights on-goal, there were still signs that this great side has every
chance of being beaten further down the line in the competition.
Iniesta at
his best
In truth, this match will certainly not be filed underneath
the ‘classic’ category when they review this tournament at the end of all the
action. Spain might have been on top throughout, but meandered through
proceedings and looked slightly starved of ideas at times.
Whilst some of that does go down to rugged defending from
their opponents, the lack of a prolific goalscorer seems like it might be the
ultimate downfall.
Alvaro Morata was wasteful in this match. This was his
opportunity to shine for Vicente del Bosque and he didn’t take his chance. He
had three decent sights of goal and fluffed his lines badly on two occasions.
Petr Cech was in good form but a striker of Morata’s quality has to be putting
his chances away.
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| Andres Iniesta was a class above anyone else in a dour match in Toulouse |
The moment of magic came in the last three minutes, just at
the point when the Czech Republic looked to have secured an improbable point
and it came from Andres Iniesta (pictured being chased by Tomas Rosicky).
He might be 32 now, but Iniesta is still of the world’s best
all-round midfielders. He completely controlled the game and his ball into the
box for the winning goal was sensational. Pique did his bit too by producing a
downwards header that gave the excellent Cech no chance.
The manner of the defeat will have hurt the Czechs but they
can have no complaints. Spain were miles better than them, even if the
scoreline doesn’t reflect this.
Rare
moments
The first half was simply one-way traffic with David de Gea
an oblivious spectator to proceedings but there were rare moments after the
interval where it looked like Spain were complacent. Pique might have scored
his goal but didn’t look too comfortable at times in his usual defensive role
whilst Sergio Ramos was solid, without being spectacular.
Two Bundesliga-based players came closest for the Czechs.
Theodor Gebre Selassie had a header cleared off the line by an alert Cesc
Fabregas, whilst Vladimir Darida’s stoppage time effort was powerful, but
struck straight at De Gea. The Manchester United stopper wasn’t overworked here
but he might be later on in the tournament.
Group D already looks like a two-way battle between Spain
and Croatia for top spot. The Czech Republic can take heart from a much more
composed defensive display than they ever produced in qualifying but were
starved of overall quality in attack. The days of their free-flowing attacking
game at major tournaments sadly seem to be over.
My best
three players of the match
Man of the Match: Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Iniesta lit up what was frankly a stale and dour contest in
Toulouse. He never looked in trouble when in possession and his assist for the
Pique winner was world-class. He is the key asset in this Spanish team.
2nd: Petr Cech (Czech Republic)
He is the best player in the Czech squad and it showed. Cech
was called into action four times in the first half and kept out what was
thrown at him. He won his personal battle against Alvaro Morata and had no
chance with the winning goal.
3rd: Theodor Gebre Selassie (Czech Republic)
Gebre Selassie played out of position but fared extremely
well and seemed to enjoy the attacking responsibility he had. He formed a good
partnership down the left with fellow Bundesliga-based player Pavel Kaderabek
and was unlucky not to score but for some last-ditch defending from Cesc
Fabregas.
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