Euro 2020: June 11-July 11
Spain's Enrique admits he was 'expecting more'
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Spain striker Alvaro Morata (right) challenging Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny for the ball during the 1-1 Group E draw on Saturday. The Spaniards need to beat Slovakia to ensure qualification for the last 16.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
SEVILLE • Nine years after winning their third major football tournament in a row, Spain are struggling to qualify for the knockout stage of Euro 2020 after drawing their first two group matches.
Coach Luis Enrique defensively claimed that if Saturday's 1-1 draw with Poland had been a boxing match, his team would have won on points.
But the hosts were the ones that looked like they were on the ropes and lacking a knockout punch.
After starting with a 0-0 draw against Sweden last week, Spain now sit third in Group E and need to beat Slovakia on Wednesday to guarantee qualification for the last 16.
Placed in a group that appeared one of the kindest in the draw and cosseted by a format that allows all but the very weakest sides to go through, failing to reach the next round would be nothing less than a humiliation for La Roja.
"I was expecting more. I was expecting six points and zero goals conceded but this is the situation," said the 51-year-old Enrique.
"We're coming into the crunch match and if we want to progress, we need to win. If we win, we'll go through. If not, we'll be out."
However, he insisted he was not worried about his side's chances of advancing, adding: "I feel a lot of hope heading into that (Slovakia) game... All four teams in this group have their future in their own hands."
The home fans at La Cartuja, where Spain are playing their three group games, remain less than convinced.
Enrique was appointed in 2018 to tweak Spain's tiki-taka style to be more in line with the game's more modern, physical nature.
Yet there has been little evidence of it at Euro 2020, where his team have racked up almost 2,000 passes in two games for the return of a single goal.
The whistles that were aimed at Alvaro Morata last week were this time saved for the entire Spanish team at the final whistle after another game of sterile possession and missed chances.
The Atletico Madrid forward grabbed the first-half opener following a VAR (video assistant referee) review but should have put away at least one of the three other opportunities presented to him.
Fellow striker Gerard Moreno also hit the post after a penalty was awarded for a foul in the box by Jakub Moder and Morata skied the rebound with the goal gaping.
Poland punished that lack of cutting edge in the second half as Robert Lewandowski powered home a header from a deep delivery by Kamil Jozwiak.
This is the first time since 1996 that Spain have failed to win at least one of their opening two games at a Euro.
They have also now managed just one win in their last eight games at major tournaments, a run stretching across five years, and have scored more than one goal in only two of those matches, leaving pundits unimpressed.
"Carles Puyol, Sergio Busquets, Sergio Ramos - they give you fear, it will be a battlefield," former Germany striker and coach Jurgen Klinsmann told the BBC.
"This Spain team is full of technical talent, they know how to read the space and when to play, but there is no fear of them anymore."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
