“Le Monde” after Mladen Antonov / AFP
StoryTop 30 matches that marked Euro football. Until 2021, “Le Monde” has classified the 30 matches that made the legend of the tournament. In 17th position, the Spaniards beat Italy on penalties and reach their first semi-final of a big tournament since 1984.
There are reputations that stick to the skin. That of magnificent losers, or pathetic depending on the scenario, has long adhered like an old piece of worn plaster to the red jersey of Spanish footballers. Unable to cross the quarter-finals of a major tournament since 1984, La Roja accumulated failures when it prepared, on June 22, 2008, to once again face the curse.
It counts five eliminations at this level of competition of a Euro or a World Cup, including three consecutive on penalties: World 1986 against Belgium, Euro 1996 against England and World 2002 against Korea South.
But against Italy, a regular executioner whom it has not beaten for eighty-eight years, Spain will take their opponent to their own game. After a soporific match at the Ernst-Happel stadium of Vienna, players of veteran Luis Aragones say bye defeat and, supreme irony, thanks to… a penalty shootout.
The birth of San Iker
Without being able to apply its licked game, stunning by its numerous repetitions of short passes, Spain uses patience to get rid of the transalpine trap. Italian hero of the world champion title two years ago, goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon still believes in his baraka when the ball he releases on a shot from the tireless Marcos Senna, Brazilian naturalized Spanish who balances alone the midfielder de la Roja, fails on his post.
After a bit more lively extra time, it was finally his counterpart, Iker Casillas, who rocked the encounter on penalties. The Real Madrid goalkeeper makes two attempts, those of Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale. Cesc Fabregas transforms the shot into decisive goal. Spain can finally continue on its way.
The next day, the Spanish daily The country underlines the click that this victory represents despite the half-masted manner: “Spain has a hero in his goals. Iker Casillas is done with the ghosts that lurked around the selection and that, since 1984, it did not exceed the quarter-finals of major competitions. “
An ever-changing destiny
Nine years later, Xavi, master of playing major Spanish successes between 2008 and 2012, tells the UEFA site of his faith in what is already called “San Iker”: “I believed in him and I knew he would respond at the right time. I feel the same with Victor Valdés at Barça. I saw these guys perform so many exploits… In Vienna, I was convinced that Iker was going to change the course of history. “
In the semi-finals, finally released, the Spanish are preparing to find a team they swept 4-1 in the first round. Russia suffered an almost identical fate (3-0) and Xavi’s teammates found, twenty-four years later, the joys of a European final. They don’t know it yet, but victory is reaching out to them. A victory that they will trivialize for four years to annoy their opponents.
“If we had lost to Italy at Euro 2008, things would probably be different. The public would have said that we could not win with a fast passing game, that we had to dominate first on the physical level. If we hadn’t won the Euro, we wouldn’t have won the World Cup either ”, Xavi judges with hindsight. The ever-changing fate of Spanish football held the warm hand of San Iker, who has never deserved his nickname so much.
Find our Top 30 matches that marked the Euro
