Although Croatia snatched a late victory against defending European Championship holders Spain, thereby pitting La Roja against Italy in a titanic last-16 tussle, Vicente Del Bosque still found some positives to take from his sides’ performance and refused to blame goalkeeper David De Gea for the loss.It was the under-pressure custodian’s error of judgment that allowed Ivan Perisic in to seal the 2-1 win after a lightning-fast counter attack, but the coach was at pains to point out that the side win and lose as a collective.”We can’t blame De Gea for the goal, if we lose we are all guilty,” Del Bosque told a packed post-match press conference.
It wasn’t the path that we wanted to take, but that’s football.”We controlled the game and we haven’t played badly today.”There’s now a five day break until the match against a fearsome looking Azzurri side, giving Spain ample time to alter the mood of disappointment.”We have time to analyze the match against Italy,” Del Bosque continued.
Losing was frustrating and ideally we wanted to qualify first, but we’ve earned the right to continue and we’ll get ourselves up for the next game and look to move forward.”Antonio Conte’s side play a more aggressive style, typified by Giorgio Chiellini at centre-back, and if the three-peat is to be realised, then Spain may have to match their counterparts in that department.”I think the physical level of our players is good,” was Del Bosque’s only response in conclusion.
