Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo all scored as Spain came from behind to beat surprise packages Georgia 4-1 at Euro 2024 on Sunday and set up a blockbuster quarter-final against hosts Germany.
Robin Le Normand’s own goal gave Georgia a shock lead in the 18th minute of this last-16 tie to send their noisy supporters wild in Cologne.
It was the first goal Spain had conceded at the competition but they came back to equalise six minutes before the interval courtesy of Manchester City midfielder Rodri.
Ruiz then headed home in the 51st minute and Williams ran through for the third before substitute Olmo made sure of the win as La Roja stay on track to become European champions for the fourth time.
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Spain now take on Germany in the last eight in Stuttgart on Friday in a repeat of the Euro 2008 final, which they won 1-0 to begin their golden era of dominance in international football.
Luis de la Fuente’s current team are looking to bring back the glory days and they were expected to brush Georgia aside here.
They would have ultimately won by a far greater margin had they converted more of their chances, with 16-year-old winger Lamine Yamal squandering several opportunities in his attempt to become the youngest ever goal-scorer at the Euros.
Georgia are ranked 74th in the world, 66 places below Spain. Willy Sagnol’s team lost twice to Spain in qualifying, going down 7-1 at home and 3-1 away.
Yet they still qualified for a first major tournament and then made it to the knockout stages with a stunning 2-0 win over Portugal.
Sagnol said on the eve of this match that his unfancied team had “already won the European Championship” thanks to their remarkable run, and they now go home with their heads held high despite eventually crumbling here.
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