ITALY kept its title-retention bid alive with a 1-1 draw with Croatia and advance to the knockout stage of the Euro 2024 on Monday night (Tuesday in the Philippines) at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany.
Substitute Mattia Zaccagni scored in the last minute of stoppage time to negate the second-half conversion of Croatia’s Luka Modric as Italy finished second in Group B with four points on one win, one draw, and a loss.
The outcome, however, was a dampener for Croatia as it stayed in third place in the group with two points, on two deadlocks and a defeat, and is unlikely to move on to the round-of-16.
āWe were a bit soft at times in the game, we didnāt produce our best football,ā Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said. āWhen you can afford to draw the game, thatās how it goes, you know a draw is enough, you are a bit more timid.ā
The 38-year-old Modric became the oldest goal-scorer ever at the tournament after knocking down from close range in the 55th minute, just 33 seconds after missing a penalty kick.
Croatia had opportunities to increase the but they could not penetrate past the defense of Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma until Zaccagni equalized the match in the 8th minute of injury time.
Meanwhile, Spain secured the top spot in Group B following a 1-0 victory over Albania. The round-of-16-bound Spaniards ended the group stage with nine points after winning all of their three matches.
Ferran Torres was the difference maker for Spain as he connected in the 13th minute before they prevented Albania from converting a game-tying shot.
In Copa America, Brazil was held to a surprising draw by Costa Rica at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Despite having 19 shots on target, including three on the goal, the Brazil were unable to capitalize, forcing them to split point with Costa Rica./PN
