Fabián Ruiz scored a great goal and provided a very good assist this Saturday in Spain’s partial victory over Croatia on the first date of the Euro 2024, thus becoming the great figure of the opening 45 minutes.
The 28-year-old player, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, was very inspired and was the architect of the advantage that his team has against Luka Modric and company, when Spain’s best moment in the match seemed to have passed.
Because those led by Luis de la Fuente had besieged the Croatians with as much insistence as they were ineffective in the first 20 minutes of the match. By the time the scoring opened it seemed that Zlatko Dalić’s team had settled on the field and were no longer suffering as much.
In reality, it was Spain adapting. Because the opening of the scoreboard came through a different route: the counterattack. The Red Fury came out quickly, Ruiz received in the center of the field and gave a great assist in the form of a filtered pass for Álvaro Morata, who avoided falling offside, was face to face with Dominik Livakovic and did not miss the opportunity.
Just three minutes later, Ruiz himself grabbed it in the crescent, dribbled forward past two defenders and crossed it to score a great goal. It was evident, the PSG player was having his day.
With the peace of mind of the advantage, Spain began to manage the match process better.
He withstood a couple of sharp attacks from his rival and, in the last play of the first half, left the dispute almost resolved. At the exit of a corner kick, no one was going to pressure the young Lamine Yamal, who had time to look, wait and calculate. The consequence? He put a perfect cross to Dani Carvajal, who was even able to drop the ball to finish with his right leg and make it 3-0 that seems definitive.
