Spain rally to beat Croatia, Kane shines for England in Nations League
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Oct 6 : World champions Spain recovered to beat Croatia 2-1 on Tuesday, with Mikel Merino scoring twice to extend their unbeaten run to 42 matches and seal a place in the Nations League quarter-finals on the final night of the fourth round of group-stage action.
England eased to a 3-0 victory over the Czech Republic in the other League A3 match, with captain Harry Kane scoring twice and setting up the third on the night he equalled Peter Shilton’s national appearance record with his 125th cap.
Spain top the group with 12 points, while England, who all but clinched a quarter-final spot, have nine, and Croatia are on three. The Czechs are still without a point.
Three days after Croatia were trounced 7-0 by visitors England, they threatened a major upset against Spain in Split when Ivan Perisic sent a well-placed header into the bottom-left corner in the 17th minute to give them the lead.
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But substitute Merino equalised in the 61st to help preserve his nation’s undefeated streak stretching back to March 2024 when he found space in the middle of the box before firing a left-footed shot into the bottom corner.
Croatia were reduced to 10 men when Perisic was sent off for a second yellow card in the 79th minute and Merino completed Spain’s comeback 10 minutes later with another left-footed finish into the corner of the net.
“I would spend the entire press conference thanking my players,” said Spain boss Luis de la Fuente, who started five Barcelona players.
“We knew that the match was going to get like this, but we’ve managed to understand it very well. We haven’t dropped our arms.”
At Wembley, Thomas Tuchel was full of praise for his team after reaching 20 wins in the fewest games of any England manager in the nation’s history, with 26.
“I think we played a very good match, very fluid and, to put it into context, it’s the fourth match in 11 or 12 days and I think we dominated through the whole match,” Tuchel told ITV.
“Very focused, created some good opportunities, got some beautiful goals and, yeah, subs were strong. So a very good performance again and a deserved win.”
HISTORIC NIGHT FOR KANE
The World Cup bronze medallists went ahead after 27 minutes through a Vladimir Coufal own goal, with Kane providing the cross.
Kane then marked his historic night with a pair of goals, striking just before the break when Elliot Anderson launched a long ball to Morgan Rogers, whose first-time cross from the right found the 33-year-old in the box for a clinical finish.
Kane completed his double in the 57th when he rose to head Lewis Hall’s corner home from the back post to bag his 91st goal for England.
“It was the perfect night for me personally and also the team,” Kane said. “It’s been a tough camp, a long camp, and it’s been nice to finish it off at Wembley, a really proud evening for sure.
“You saw some fantastic football from England out there today.”
Elsewhere, Slovenia beat Scotland 2-1 with Aljosa Matko and Danijel Sturm scoring in the second half to cancel out Ryan Christie’s 31st minute opener in League B1.
Switzerland’s Fabian Rieder, Johan Manzambi and Dan Ndoye scored in a 3-0 win over North Macedonia in the other game in that group. The Swiss have 12 points ahead of Slovenia on seven, Scotland with four and North Macedonia on none.
The final two rounds of the group stage will be played in the November international break.
The eight teams finishing in the top two of the four League A groups will play in the knockout rounds beginning in March.
Source: Reuters
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