Three of the heroes of Spain in the semifinals earlier to share their memories with UEFA.com as La Roja prepare for Wednesday's semifinals against Portugal at the meeting in Donetsk.
Spain celebrate reaching the final in 2008
Holders of Spain are with the aim of becoming the first team to win three major tournaments in a row, but the charges of Vicente del Bosque will have to overcome Iberian neighbors Portugal in the first UEFA EURO 2012 semi-final in Donetsk, in order to maintain that dream alive. UEFA.com asked three of the Red to the heroes of the semifinals of the past to share their memories of their own last-four wins.
17/06/1964 Spain 2-1 Hungary (Madrid)
Luis Suarez: It was a good team, but not be one of the best Spain has had. We played well together, though. We were very compact and the players understand and complement each other very well, partly because they came from different teams of very few. Then there was a player with international experience - me! I was the oldest player and I was already playing abroad. We had great support from the Spanish. Fans identified with us much, perhaps because it was a very young team that was willing to get something. And that really helped us, gave us a lot of calm within the team, and they really took the pressure off of us.
24/06/1984 Denmark 1-1 Spain (aet, Spain win 5-4 on pens) (Lyon)
Emilio Butragueno: It was all so new to me that maybe I did not fully appreciate the importance of that game. It is only after several years have passed you appreciate how difficult it is to get as far as the semifinals of the tournament. I think this game was played in Marseille and I remember feeling happy for my colleagues who had made a supreme effort, but as the youngest and newest of the workforce had not yet settled into the atmosphere than football professional level.
26/06/2008 Russia 0-3 Spain (Vienna)
Iker Casillas: The result [of the game 4-1 in the group stage of the two] did not quite reflect what happened on the pitch. Russia created opportunities. I seem to remember that we were winning 1-0 and took a chance on the right side, who came to the left side of my goal. It hit the post twice, one was a free kick and the other was a shot. We have achieved our second goal on the next move. 4-1 was too much. I do not think that was a fair result. Russia deserved more and I could have done much better. The game was very helpful to us when they reached the semifinals, to know that Russia was not as bad as people said. In fact, achieved victory when they played the Netherlands. But then, when we face Russia in the semifinals, we played very well.
Spain celebrate reaching the final in 2008
Holders of Spain are with the aim of becoming the first team to win three major tournaments in a row, but the charges of Vicente del Bosque will have to overcome Iberian neighbors Portugal in the first UEFA EURO 2012 semi-final in Donetsk, in order to maintain that dream alive. UEFA.com asked three of the Red to the heroes of the semifinals of the past to share their memories of their own last-four wins.
17/06/1964 Spain 2-1 Hungary (Madrid)
Luis Suarez: It was a good team, but not be one of the best Spain has had. We played well together, though. We were very compact and the players understand and complement each other very well, partly because they came from different teams of very few. Then there was a player with international experience - me! I was the oldest player and I was already playing abroad. We had great support from the Spanish. Fans identified with us much, perhaps because it was a very young team that was willing to get something. And that really helped us, gave us a lot of calm within the team, and they really took the pressure off of us.
24/06/1984 Denmark 1-1 Spain (aet, Spain win 5-4 on pens) (Lyon)
Emilio Butragueno: It was all so new to me that maybe I did not fully appreciate the importance of that game. It is only after several years have passed you appreciate how difficult it is to get as far as the semifinals of the tournament. I think this game was played in Marseille and I remember feeling happy for my colleagues who had made a supreme effort, but as the youngest and newest of the workforce had not yet settled into the atmosphere than football professional level.
26/06/2008 Russia 0-3 Spain (Vienna)
Iker Casillas: The result [of the game 4-1 in the group stage of the two] did not quite reflect what happened on the pitch. Russia created opportunities. I seem to remember that we were winning 1-0 and took a chance on the right side, who came to the left side of my goal. It hit the post twice, one was a free kick and the other was a shot. We have achieved our second goal on the next move. 4-1 was too much. I do not think that was a fair result. Russia deserved more and I could have done much better. The game was very helpful to us when they reached the semifinals, to know that Russia was not as bad as people said. In fact, achieved victory when they played the Netherlands. But then, when we face Russia in the semifinals, we played very well.
0 comments:
Post a Comment