Germany’s second summer fairy tale is over but Spain’s goes on, Stuttgart stunned at the last. With 65 seconds of extra time remaining, penalties looking inevitable and players pulling up all over the pitch, barely able to walk, Dani Olmo clipped in a glorious ball and there, deep in the penalty area, was Mikel Merino. A turn of the head, a twist of the neck and the selección were on their way to the semi-final, on the verge of finally defeating a tournament host at the tenth attempt.
On their way, which is not to say they were there just yet. Still they had to survive a scare – how could it be otherwise after an evening such as this, lived on the edge? – when Niclas Füllkrug headed past a post a minute into added time. And there was another one, four minutes beyond the 120, when with the very last kick of the game, the very last kick of Toni Kroos’s entire career, they faced one final delivery into their box. Manuel Neuer was up for that. So though was Unai Simón, clutching the ball and Spain’s place in the next round.
What an exhausting, bruising evening it had been, a game of 41 shots and 16 yellow cards, a red too right at the end when Dani Carvajal, as desperate as they all were, hauled down Jamal Musiala to set up what might have been a dramatic twist on the dramatic twist. It could have belonged to either of them. In the end, though, it belonged to Spain, who had resisted a modern Germany and the old Germany too.
They will have to count their men back in but there will be time to consider that, to work out how it had happened. For now what mattered was that they had made it. The hosts will ask the same question, from the other side. How? Twice they hit the post and there could been a late penalty too as inside this roaring, tense place, the feeling grew that this was one of those moments that mean you never write off the Germans. Behind early in the second half, they had pushed until they drew level on 89; with Spain either forced back, or taking refuge, they had seemed the more likely to win a wild, open game.
This had been presented as the best teams at the tournament taking a look in the mirror. Luis de la Fuente insisted on their similarities and so too had Julian Nagelsmann: two sides good in possession and transition, employing a high press and the counter-press; what awaited, Nagelsmann said, was a match “as interesting as everyone thinks.” What awaited, it turned out, was a bit of a battle too.
In the opening three minutes, while the smell of sulphur still lingered, Emre Can, Marc Cucurella and Pedri all went down. The first of those led to the first chance: by seeking the foul, Can allowed Spain to advance, Fabián Ruiz, Nico Williams and Álvaro Morata setting up a shooting position for Pedri. The last led to an early departure: Kroos sent Pedri flying, leaving the Spain midfielder limping off in tears.
Kroos had been fortunate to escape a booking then and a few minutes later he trod on Lamine Yamal, a glimpse of the intensity that Nagelsmann hinted at – even if the coach had quickly added that his team were not planning to kick Lamine Yamal “out of his socks”. On the touchline, De la Fuente was in the ear of the fourth official. On the pitch, the players were quick into each other, Antonio Rüdiger next into Olmo as he dashed through.
This was a game of moments, frantic, spaces only occasionally opening, chances hurried. Kroos could not control, Can lost the ball. In the chaos Rodri remained calm and Ruiz would emerge too. Williams could not be contained, but nor could he be decisive yet. Spain were quick to shoot, sometimes too quick. Germany worked a couple of chances for Kai Havertz: a header that Simón saved and then a scuffed shot from the edge of the area.
Spain almost led when Lamine Yamal found Morata who spun and struck over, and then did when the 16-year-old was next involved. Again, the fear could be felt, David Raum reluctant to be drawn too close. And so, Lamine Yamal slowed and set up Olmo, cool as you like. Arriving from deeper, the timing of the run as perfect as Lamine Yamal’s pass, Olmo swept past Neuer.
Füllkrug came on, gesturing to the fans. The noise rose, the style shifted. Florian Wirtz bent past the post. Spain were under pressure, the changes De la Fuente made speaking of resistance. Füllkrug was the target, a gravitational pull of his own. He set up Robert Andrich for a shot that Simón saved superbly and Havertz for another that Carvajal dived to block, then headed wide. When Wirtz escaped and crossed, he turned a shot against the post.
Simón then gifted an opportunity to Havertz who curled over him towards the open goal but over. Still, though, they came. This is Germany. A moment’s calm from Kroos, a superb cross from Max Mittelstädt and Joshua Kimmich’s header set up Wirtz with a minute to go and he struck in off the post to take them to extra time. There, Germany carried the weight of the game. The pitch felt huge, but so too was the effort to traverse it.
Mikel Oyarzabal flashed wide and Thomas Müller set up Wirtz but his shot spun past the post. Musiala’s goalbound shot was stopped by Cucurella’s hand, Füllkrug hit wide, and so did Oyarzabal, then Simon brilliantly saved Füllkrug’s diving header. And then came Merino’s moment, history made.
