Spain coach Luis de la Fuente believes he is working with the best group of players in world football after La Roja clinched their place in the Euro 2024 knockout rounds by beating Italy.
Spain were drawn into what many believed to be the toughest group at the tournament but have made light work of some difficult opponents, thrashing Croatia 3-0 before overcoming Italy 1-0 on Thursday.
They have clinched top spot in Group B with a game to spare, with Riccardo Calafiori's own goal handing them their deserved victory over the reigning champions.
Spain fired off 20 shots to Italy's four in Gelsenkirchen, also creating 1.9 expected goals (xG) to the Azzurri's 0.18 and enjoying 57.2 per cent of the possession.
This is just the second time La Roja have started a European Championships tournament by winning their first two games to nil, after they beat Czechia 1-0 and Turkiye 3-0 in 2016.
The likes of Nico Williams, Lamine Yamal and Pedri all dazzled against Italy, leaving De la Fuente convinced he is in charge of the most talent squad at the Euros.
"I think we're the best in the world in terms of interpreting various match situations," De la Fuente said at his post-match press conference.
"Of course, that is really reinforced and strengthened when you win silverware.
"But I think it's important to really underline the quality of this generation of players, the players that have broken into this squad. I think the Spanish players are the best in the world."
While De la Fuente now has the luxury of being able to rest players against Albania on matchday three, he knows there can be no room for complacency in the last 16.
"I think we were superior across the board from a footballing perspective," he added. "Perhaps it even seemed that Italy played badly, but that's because we played very well.
"Italy won the Euros three years ago. We're still a long way off winning the European Championship. We haven't yet achieved anything. Okay, we've won some important matches. We have wonderful prospects.
"But football can also be very cruel. So we need to be cautious. We need to be humble. We need to show respect."
Chicago Fire v Toronto FC: Herdman hoping to change Reds’ playoff story
Toronto FC head coach John Herdman has said his side must rediscover their clinical edge upon their MLS return after their Canadian Championship final defeat in midweek.
The Reds were beaten by the Vancouver Whitecaps on penalties after a goalless encounter, with goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer proving to be the hero, making seven saves on the night.
But Herdman was left ruing those missed opportunities as the Whitecaps claimed their third-straight title, insisting his players must respond against the Chicago Fire this weekend.
“We are just not clinical at the moment,” Herdman said. “It’s been a couple games where we’ve been right there knocking on the door but just haven’t been able to find that killer moment or we found a keeper that’s standing on his head.
“That’s the story of TFC at the moment. We’re in the playoff hunt.
“As I said in the dressing room, all I asked is the team showed up, and they did. They have to show up again on Saturday. That’s their next task.”
Chicago, meanwhile, were condemned to back-to-back defeats in the MLS, going down 2-0 to CF Montreal in their last encounter at the Stade Saputo.
That defeat, the Fire’s 16th of the season, leaves them 14th in the Eastern Conference standings, ending their hopes of reaching the playoffs this year.
But with two of their remaining three regular-season fixtures at the SeatGeek Stadium, head coach Frank Klopas has asked his players to give supporters something to cheer after a disappointing campaign.
“We need to finish strong. We need to fight and compete all the way to the end. As long as we have games in front of us, we are professionals and need to play,” Klopas said.
“We need to do our job. We have two home games and regardless of what happens, it’s important, and I have stressed it to the team to finish strongly at home.
“I know it has not been a season with a lot of great moments, but we need to do whatever we can to finish on a positive note and leave a good picture, especially at home.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chicago Fire –Brian Gutierrez
In the absence of top scorer Hugo Cuypers, Gutierrez will be the man tasked with providing the Fire with an attacking spark at the SeatGeek Stadium.
The American notched an assist in their 4-1 win over Toronto earlier in the season, winning three of his five matches against this weekend’s opponents (D1 L1).
Toronto FC – Jonathan Osorio
Osorio has scored six goals against the Fire, his most against any MLS opponent.
However, he hasn’t scored against the Fire since 2019, failing to find the back of the net in his last five appearances against Chicago.
MATCH PREDICTION: CHICAGO FIRE WIN
The Fire have won three of their last four matches against Toronto, including the last two in a row. Prior to the last four meetings, Toronto were unbeaten in 14 straight matches against Chicago (W11 D3).
However, Herdman’s side have lost seven of their last nine matches in all competitions (D1 L1), including the last two in a row. This is the sixth different losing streak of at least two matches for the Fire this season.
Toronto’s 2-0 loss at the Colorado Rapids last Saturday was their 45th regular season road loss since the start of the 2021 season, four more than any other MLS team in that time (Chicago - 41).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Chicago Fire – 48%
Draw – 26%
Toronto FC – 26%
St. Louis City v Sporting Kansas City: This rivalry is important to MLS, says Hackworth
John Hackworth believes St. Louis City's derby with Sporting Kansas City is key to MLS as they resume their rivalry on Saturday.
The last two meetings between the sides have finished level, with both ending in dramatic fashion.
St. Louis City come into the latest edition having lost just one of their last six outings, though that was their last home match.
They sit 13th in the Eastern Conference, level on points with Sporting above them, and Hackworth is now keen to build on the momentum from their win over San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday.
"We talked about trying to finish these last five games with a lot of momentum, showing our fans what we were capable of," Hackworth said.
"We knew we had to go on the road in one of these three games and be successful, and now we just need to build on that.
"This rivalry is really important to our league. It's two teams who are going to go after it and play by their principles, leaving it all out there to see what happens - two dramatic draws set us up for this contest."
Meanwhile, Kansas City have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions and suffered a 3-1 defeat to Los Angeles FC in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday.
Head coach Peter Vermes was left disappointed by the result but believes there are positives to take from the performance.
"I give the guys a lot of credit. I'm very proud of the effort that the guys put into that game," Vermes said.
"It never feels good to lose. But I also think that the group did themselves proud in the way they performed. We had good responses in that game, but in the end, we fell short."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert
Cedric Teuchert scored in the fourth minute in each of St. Louis City's last two matches.
Teuchert is one of six players to score more than one goal in the opening four minutes of matches this season and the second to do so in consecutive matches (Mikael Uhre).
Sporting Kansas City – Tim Melia
Both goals Sporting Kansas City conceded in their loss to Minnesota United on Saturday came in the final 30 minutes.
Sporting have allowed 31 goals in the final 30 minutes of matches this season, only San Jose (33) has allowed more, and Tim Melia will be hoping his concentration levels can improve ahead of Saturday's match.
MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN
St. Louis City have lost only two of their last 10 matches in all competitions (W4 D4), including picking up a 2-1 win at San Jose on Saturday. St. Louis have not won two straight matches in all competitions since wins over Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City last September.
Sporting have lost 10 of their last 12 regular-season away matches, including a 2-0 loss in Seattle in their last league road match. Only league-worst San Jose (11) have lost more away matches this season than Sporting (10).
However, Kansas City are unbeaten in four straight meetings with St. Louis (W2 D2) after St. Louis won two of the first three encounters. This will be the eighth meeting between St. Louis and Kansas City, totaling 10.4 % (8/77) of all of St. Louis' games in all competitions up to this point.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 43.4%
Draw – 26.7%
Sporting Kansas City – 29.9%
Rooney lauds 'excellent' Plymouth defence in Luton victory
Wayne Rooney credited Plymouth Argyle's defensive showing as crucial in their 3-1 triumph over Luton Town at Home Park on Friday.
Plymouth took the lead in the eighth minute courtesy of Rami Al Hajj, with the Swede notching his first Pilgrims goal with a curled finish beyond Thomas Kaminski.
The hosts found themselves two goals in front 20 minutes from time after substitute Ibrahim Cissoko shifted the ball onto his left foot before firing a stunning effort into the far corner.
Plymouth's joy was short-lived, though, as Victor Moses chested down Alfie Doughty's cross to the back post before striking the ball beyond Daniel Grimshaw less than two minutes later.
The Hatters continued to pile on the pressure in search of an equaliser but were undone by a moment of individual brilliance from Cissoko, who danced his way into the area and saw his first effort blocked, but finished the rebound to move Plymouth up to 13th in the Championship.
Rooney has now guided his side to back-to-back home victories for the first time this season, and said his side had to adapt to Luton's relentless attacking to emerge victorious.
"I thought it was a good performance for different reasons," Rooney said.
"I thought first half we were good at times, controlled the tempo of the game and Luton tried to press us, and I think when we showed composure and played through the press we caused them problems.
"Second half we were a little bit sloppy with the ball and gave it away in dangerous areas at times, but I thought defensively our back four, and in particular the two centre-backs, were excellent.
"Luton are very good at set-pieces and I thought we were brilliant defending them and showed great character and desire to go and head the ball, and then the attacking players get all the praise when they score the goals."
For Rob Edwards, a run of back-to-back victories ended on the South Coast, with his side lacking a clinical edge in front of goal.
The Hatters registered 16 shots during the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.07, but only two of his side's efforts were on target.
"Credit to the opposition, at both ends of the pitch they were better - they were more ruthless at one end and defended better at the other," Edwards said.
"I think we got into their final third 40-odd times, twice as often as they did, but we didn't make their goalkeeper work enough.
"We weren't clinical enough at one and end then didn't defend well enough at the other -it's not a good recipe to win a football match.
"It's really frustrating to come away losing a game talking about both ends of the pitch."
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