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| Iniesta and Jordi Alba celebrates Morata goal for Spain against Turkey in Euro 2016 |
It was a great day of football for FC Barcelona players in Euro 2016 Friday games as they put up outstanding performances for their national teams.
The day saw six Barça players in action with Ivan Rakitic representing Croatia; Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique representing Spain while Arda Turan came against Spain with the Turkey national team.
RAKITIC SCORES BUT CROATIA FAIL TO WIN
Croatia played against Czech Republic in their second game of Group D and surrendered a 2-goal lead which saw them draw 2-2 to the team led by Goalkeeping legend Petr Cech. Ivan Rakitic was on top form in the game and scored Croatia’s second goal of the day whilst also creating numerous chances.
Ivan Perisic opened the scoring for the Croats after 37 minutes of play with a fine left-footed drive from the left that beat Petr Cech. Rakitic made it 2-0 10 minutes after the restart with an audacious lob over Cech after poor defending by Czech Republic.
Milan Skoda pulled a goal back for Czech Republic with 14 minutes left to play courtesy of a sublime header from a Rosicky cross. Croatia fans throwing flares into the pitch elongated the game and Tomas Necid got Czech Republic’s equalizer from the spot on 94 minutes.
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| Ivan Rakitic celebrates his goal for Croatia against Czech Republic in Euro 2016 |
INIESTA MASTERCLASS HELP SPAIN REACH EURO 2016 ROUND OF 16
After a dazzling performance in Spain’s first game if the tournament against Czech Republic, Barça captain Andres Iniesta didn’t stop the show as he was on fire for La Roja in their comprehensive 3-0 win over Turkey, a result which saw them qualify for the Round of 16.
Alongside Iniesta were Barça colleagues Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets while Arda Turan came against them playing for Turkey.
Gerard Pique came close to scoring the opener on 12 minutes but couldn’t keep his header on target. Spain opened the scoring on the 34th minute through striker Alvaro Morata who met a fantastic Nolito cross with a sublime header that left Turkey’s goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
Nolito opened the scoring three minutes later with a good finish inside the box after poor defending from the Turks. It was 3-0 three minutes after the restart as a wonderful through ball by Andres Iniesta found Jordi Alba free on the left, but the left-back laid a pass for Morata who scored a tap-in although replays showed Alba was a bit offside during the build up.
It was a 100/100 game for Spain, the best performance in the Euro 2016 so far. Chants of “Iniesta for Ballon d’Or” was heard loudly from the Spain section after his dazzling performance that saw him get his second consecutive Euro 2016 man of the match award.
Spain are now through to the next round and are currently top of Group D with 6 points from two games. Croatia lie two points behind in second while Czech Republic stay third on one point.
