Spain are one of the two most successful teams in the history of the European Championship alongside Germany having won the tournament three times each. The two teams can add a fourth tile at the ongoing Euro 2020 tournament.
Germany are in action against old foes England in a round of 16 encounter billed for the Wembley Stadium on Tuesday to determine who will go through to the quarterfinals as they bid to a fourth title, while Spain are already in the quarterfinals in the quest for a fourth title after they survived the scare from Croatia.
Spain trailed to a bizarre own goal from Barcelona starlet Pedri in the first half after goalkeeper Unai Simon failed to deal with his back pass before Paris Saint Germain (PSG) attacker Pablo Sarabia dragged the Spaniards level to ensure that the two teams went into the half-time interval with a 1-1 draw.
Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicuetagave Spain the lead for the first time in the game via a header in the second half before Ferran Torres added a third goal for the Spaniards. At the point of the goal from Manchester City star Torres on 77 minutes, Spain were cruising and could have scored more to extinguish any fightback from the Croatians. Croatia then showed immense fighting spirit to score two goals in the final five minutes to take the game into extra time.
The Croatians pulled one back through Dinamo Zagreb attacker MislavOrsicwith five minutes left on the clock having come off the bench before he provided the cross for another substitute in Atalanta midfielder Mario Pasalic to head in the equaliser two minutes into added time to force an extra 30 minutes to determine who goes through. In the end, Alvaro Morata and substitute Mikel Oyarzabal scored within three minutes in first half of extra time to send Spain to the quarterfinals.
The current set of Spain players would be hoping to emulate Fernando Torres and the other members of the 2008 class who ended the country's wait for a major trophy. Fernando Torres scored the lone goal in the final as Spain beat Germany 1-0 to win Euro 2008. The goal from Fernando Torres ended a 44-year wait for a major trophy. Spain then retained their title four years later at Euro 2012 to take them to three titles with the Germans.