EURO 2016 – Spain, Italy win, qualify for next round News

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EURO 2016 – Spain, Italy win, qualify for next round

By Daily Sports on June 18, 2016

Defending European champions Spain booked their place in the last 16 round of Euro 2016 on Friday with a convincing 3-0 win against Turkey in Nice.

Vicente del Bosque's men bossed the Group D tie from the kickoff, with a double by Juventus' Alvaro Morata and a first competitive international goal from Nolito sealing a comfortable win.

"We showed our winning mentality and great team spirit here tonight," said Andres Iniesta, who was awarded man-of-the-match.

"It depends on ourselves how far we go here, the feelings we have are very positive at the moment," he said.

Turkey could also face Uefa sanctions after sections of their support lit flares and threw firecrackers onto the pitch at full-time.

Spain, aiming for an unprecedented third consecutive Euros title, can seal top spot in the pool with just a draw against Croatia in their final group game on Tuesday.

Turkey need to beat the Czech Republic in their final match and hope other results go their way to have any chance of progressing as one of the four best third-placed sides from the six groups.

Brazil-born striker Eder overcame an otherwise patchy performance to hit a cracking late winner in a 1-0 victory over Sweden that sent Italy into the last 16 of Euro 2016 on Friday.

Eder, playing in his first major finals for Italy after being naturalised last year, came close to being substituted by Antonio Conte after a dismal opening half up front alongside Southampton striker Graziano Pelle.

But the Inter Milan striker had the Italy bench celebrating wildly on the pitch at the Stadium de Toulouse with a well-taken 88th minute strike after running on to Simone Zaza's header to beat Andreas Eriksson at his far post.

"I'm very happy with the goal," said Eder, who struggled to make an impact after moving from Sampdoria to Inter in January.

"I'm delighted for the team, and I'm very happy the coach has kept faith with me.

"I think it helped me I wasn't playing for Inter Milan a lot at the end of the season. That helped me to save some energy for this championships and also allowed me to work a lot of my fitness."

Italy, 2-0 winners over Belgium last week, now top Group E with six points, leaving Sweden, who had late claims for a penalty waved away, realistically needing to beat Belgium on Wednesday if they are to have any hope of making it to the knockout phase.

After a mediocre display in Sweden's 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland, all eyes were on captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the towering striker sought to make his mark by becoming the first man to score in four editions of the competition.

But a cautious Italy restricted the former Juventus and Paris Saint Germain striker to few real chances in front of a huge army of yellow-clad Sweden fans.

Defender Giorgio Chiellini was handed that task but he said it took a concerted effort.

"You can't afford to give strikers like him an inch. He can transform balls that most humans can do nothing with into goals," said the Juventus defender.

"But it took the whole team to help close him down. Zlatan is 80 percent of Sweden's team."

A tight first half saw few chances at either end as Italy's formidable three-man defence of Andre Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini kept Ibrahimovic in check, whilst Pelle and Eder failed to shine on their few real forays up the park.

A 94th-minute penalty rescued a point for the Czech Republic in their dramatic 2-2 draw with Croatia as flares thrown onto the pitch marred Friday's Euro 2016 match.

With Croatia 2-1 up and with one foot in the last 16, referee Mark Clattenberg briefly halted play late in the game when flares thrown by Croatian fans landed on the pitch in Saint-Etienne.

When the match resumed, Croatia defender Domagoj Vida was penalised for handball and Tomas Necid drilled home the resulting penalty, deep in added time, to claim their first point in Group D.

European football's governing body Uefa are poised to impose further sanctions on the Croatian Football Federation for the crowd trouble.

•Souced from superspots.com.

Source Daily Sports

Posted June 18, 2016