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'Double thrilling games!' Fans react as Italy scores late equaliser against Croatia; Spain beat Albania 1-0 in UEFA Euro 2024

Spain tried their chances of making it 2-0 but the compact defence of Albania did not let them open after the first goal and the score remained the same in the first half with Torres giving the Euro 2012 champions the lead.

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Anirban Bose
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Fans react as Italy scores late equaliser against Croatia; Spain beats Albania 1-0 in UEFA Euro 2024

Italy scores late equaliser against Croatia; Spain beat Albania (Source- Twitter)

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In the final Group B matches of the UEFA Euro 2024, Croatia played out Italy and leaders Spain faced off against Albania. The group of death has been interesting to watch as La Roja secured their position in the knockout stages after winning their first two matches in the group stage. On the other hand, Italy was only second placed with one win against Albania. Italy needed a draw to qualify and the other two teams needed a win to qualify as a second-best team.

Luis de la Fuenta’s side started the game exactly as it needed to be, they made some changes in the starting lineup. FC Barcelona winger Ferran Torres who started the game broke the deadlock in the 13th minute of the game after a delightful through ball by Dani Olmo to him letting the former curling it in towards the far post. 

Spain tried their chances of making it 2-0 but the compact defence of Albania did not let them open after the first goal and the score remained the same in the first half with Torres giving the Euro 2012 champions the lead. In the second half, the game was end to end with the underdogs having their chances with Armando Broja denied by a superb save from David Raya. The Spanish team qualifies as the group leader winning all three games in the tournament. 

Italy scores late to qualify for knockouts

On the other side of Germany in the Red Bull Arena at Leipzig, the game was end to end with both sides having their chance. Luka Sucic struck out far away from the box nearly five minutes into the match, which was punched away by captain Gianluigi Donnarumma. Near the 30-minute mark, Alessandro Bastoni had the best chance of the first half as his header from 5 yards was saved by Dominik Livakovic.

The first half ended 0-0 in Leipzig. Croatia pressured in the second half and that paid off for the side. They were awarded a penalty and Luka Modric stepped up to take it but he failed from the spot with Donnarumma guessing the right way. But 33 seconds later he gave them the lead with a ball falling after an initial save from the goalkeeper as he slashed it inside the net. Mattia Zaccagni scores a 98th-minute equaliser to lead the Azzurri to the knockout rounds. 

Here's how fans reacted

Spain UEFA Euro 2024 Italy Croatia