By Mitch Phillips
COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) – With the confidence rightly earned from storming through a tough-looking group, Spain delivered another display full of skill and swagger on Sunday that again underlined how they have re-imagined themselves into a team who know the way to goal.
They were always likely to beat Georgia, who surpassed all expectations by reaching the knockout phase in their first major tournament, but their 4-1 victory came with real panache, and no little patience.
Spain had already forced in-form goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili into several good saves before they were caught on the break and conceded their first goal of the tournament – an own goal by Robin Le Normand.
There was no panic and, though it was still only 1-1 at halftime after Rodri’s equaliser, the Spaniards were playing enterprising stuff.
Fabian Ruiz put Spain ahead and late goals by Nico Williams and Dani Olmo were a fair reflection of their dominance.
Williams and fellow wide man Lamine Yamal were a constant danger, being given licence to show all their skills and tricks, though the Georgia defence deserve huge credit for ensuring that most of their good work was limited to areas outside the box.
Rodri, as he always seems to do for his club Manchester City and country, kept the momentum up, slipping passes into space and rewarding the probing runs of his team mates, while the energetic running of Marc Cucurella and masterful distribution of Ruiz meant Spain totally owned the midfield.
A remarkable 35 shots on goal, 13 on target, were another stark reminder of how coach Luis de la Fuente has developed the current Spanish side into one that no longer seem to seek possession for possession’s sake.
They have been consistently the most impressive team at the tournament, dismissing Croatia, Italy and Albania before Sunday’s eventually comfortable win, which is something of a rarity in normal time in recent years.
It was the first time since Spain hammered Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final that they have won a knockout stage game in normal time at a major tournament.
They lost to Italy in 90 minutes at the 2016 Euros and the next five at the European Championship and World Cup went to extra time, where they won two and lost three.
That newly-acquired commitment to finding an end product will face a test of a different magnitude next up, however, as they take on a buoyant Germany in Stuttgart next Friday.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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