Spain feasts against Romania to start the European Under-21

Spain feasted on its debut in the European Under-21. He sat at the table in front of a Romania without an appetite, scared to see himself against a superior team on paper that, in addition, handled it at will throughout the game. She played with a complex, as if only half of the field existed, and La Rojita did not even need to give an excellent version to end with a win (0-3) in the first game of a talismanic tournament that also opens the doors to the Games Olympics in Paris next summer.

Spain knew that the host was going to crouch trying not to get too hurt from an unequal duel. The game asked to be kneaded, with Antonio Blanco and Álex Baena looking for Rodri and Sergio Gómez on the banks while Sancet tried to find the crack through which to slip into the area and be the tip of the Romanian defense's opener. It took 20 minutes to achieve it, as many as understanding that they would have to do it all because the rival had no ambition. If he passed from the center of the field, he limited himself to finishing plays with sterile shots from far away without faith.

Detected that Romania did not dare to cross the core, Spain sought how to harass. First he tried it with distant shots that crashed into a pediment, like Álex Baena's right cross, but the one who released the chain was Rodri to accelerate Spain. He had to deal with Borza, a debutant 17-year-old winger who he embittered by chasing his shadow. It gave him the seconds he needed to think and create the problem for him.

First he tried with a left-footed shot that was looking for the squad and then slipped in as a classic winger to the baseline to give a pass to Abel Ruiz who, point blank, pushed next to the right post. The Valencian did not understand how he was denied that goal on the edge of halftime.

The change of Santi Denia

Spain did not go to the dressing room with an advantage, but Santi Denia had already seen the hole through which he would get it. With one change, the party bowed. He brought on Víctor Gómez to double Rodri and make the right wing more offensive. The two did not take long to put together the play of the first Spanish goal in the championship. The bético man saw the career of the Braga winger and gave him the ball on the run so that, with a precise pass behind, Álex Baena appeared to beat Popa.

The Romanians let them appear in the area with spaces and they paid for it. The punishment didn't take long to get fat again when Miranda scored the second goal after a partnership between Rodri, Abel Ruiz and Sergio Gómez in the heart of the area.

The Romanian coach Emil Sandoi shook his bench to try to anesthetize a game in which they were falling apart, but the total collapse was only prevented by Spain itself. Santi Denia looked for more damaging resources than the many available to him, with the talent of Veiga, the mischief of Riquelme and the arrivals of Aimar Oroz. Popa saved another great occasion from Abel Ruiz one-on-one and two from Osasuna's midfielder, one of them on the same goal line.

The score favored La Rojita but, to make up for everything that failed in 89 minutes, Sergio Gómez closed the win on the last play with a direct free kick that deflected the wall. Spain thus surpassed the score achieved by Ukraine against Croatia (2-0) and climbs to the leadership of group B.