LONDON (AP) – It has received severe criticism and even death threats. He was surprisingly removed from the starting team and faced all kinds of vicissitudes during the Eurocup.
With a goal, it seemed that Álvaro Morata would leave all that behind.
He entered as a substitute in Tuesday’s semi-final, just seconds after Federico Chiesa had given Italy the lead in the 60th minute. And shortly after, the Juventus attacker equalized the score, scoring his third goal at Euro 2020.
He had apparently made his worth clear and secured his place on the team. But the penalty shootout came, the one that turns some great players into villains.
And Morata went through precisely that undesirable transformation.
He sent his shot to the left of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who dived for cover.
“This group deserved more, much more,” Morata wrote on Instagram. “Like all of Spain, it was also my dream. I can only say that I am proud to have been part of this team. To those who have believed in us, THANK YOU. Soccer can sometimes be very tough. Long live Spain ”.
Moments later Jorginho did not miss from 12 steps. This gave Italy a place in Sunday’s final against England or Denmark. The players of Spain will undertake a long return home.
Morata had started each match of the continental competition despite criticism for some failures in front of the goal. Coach Luis Enrique said that the decision to do without him for the first minutes of the match against Italy was related to an injury.
“He had a problem in the adductor and still wanted to shoot the penalty … That says a lot about his personality, because he has had to endure difficult situations in this concentration and has been at a beastly level,” he added. “Today when he came out he puzzled the rival and scored the goal. An outstanding like the rest of his colleagues ”.
Morata, 28, walked straight off the court when Jorginho converted the decisive penalty.
At the press conference, Luis Enrique clarified that he had not yet chatted with Morata, who had attended the anti-doping analysis.
Spain had never lost a semifinal in the Euro or the World Cup.
Morata did not take the penalty in the series against Switzerland during the quarterfinals as he had been replaced earlier.
In the definition against Italy, Morata was not the only Spanish player who failed. Dani Olmo sent his penalty over the crossbar, just after Unai Simón had blocked Italian midfielder Manuel Locatelli’s shot.
