Lamine Yamal continued his remarkable brilliance with the Spanish national team, after scoring for the third match in a row during the current international break, an achievement achieved for the first time with the national team.
Yamal scored a goal for the Spanish El Matador in the sixth minute during their 3-1 win over the Czech Republic, after scoring against England in the second minute. He then scored two goals and made another against Croatia, bringing him to 12 goals and 7 assists in his last 9 matches with Barcelona and his country's national team.
Yamal's goal against the Czech Republic came from a wonderful shot on the edge of the penalty area that landed in the far corner of goalkeeper Antonin Kinski, igniting the enthusiasm of the fans at Carlos Tarteri Stadium.
Yamal raised his score to 11 goals in 36 international matches, when he was nineteen years old, a remarkable number for a player who previously won the World Cup and the European Championship with Spain.
After Spain advanced (2-0) at the end of the first half, coach Luis de la Fuente decided to replace Yamal in the second half, as part of his keenness to manage the players’ participation minutes amid the pressure of the matches.
“It is difficult to maintain a balance between results and the health of the players,” De La Fuente said. We have to win games, but the most important thing is health. “We hope we will not suffer any more injuries.”
The Spanish coach praised Yamal in the press conference, saying: “His development has become a daily reality that we see when he scores. I put my hand on my head in admiration, not astonishment. “If he were the only Spanish player nominated for the Ballon d’Or, I would say he is the best player in the world.”
Croatian Luka Modric said that he felt ashamed of his team's performance after losing 7-0 to England in Rijeka yesterday, Saturday, in the heaviest defeat in the history of the Croatian national football team.
Croatia's previous heaviest defeat was a 6-0 loss to Spain in 2018. Modric, the player who participated most with the national team, said that the manner in which the defeat against England came was unacceptable.
He told the local newspaper "Jutarni": "It is difficult to find an explanation for such a performance that lacked tackles, violations, fighting spirit and cohesion... I have been here for 20 years, but for the first time I feel ashamed after a match." You can lose or play against a better opponent than you - and they are (England) at the moment. But in any case, losing in this way and wasting the reputation we have built over the years is unacceptable.”
The 41-year-old player added: “You cannot play football this way.” You can't play without two players, you can't play like this, we looked like we were missing 4 or 5 players. "It was a disastrous night."
Croatia will host Spain in Split next Tuesday. The world champions have an unbeaten record so far in the European Nations League, and Spain won the first match between the two teams 4-1 last Tuesday.
Modric said: “We have to gather our strength and remain united because a new difficult match awaits us. We have to show our true selves, and that we have challenge, pride, desire, readiness, and solidarity, as these are things that cannot be lost overnight.”
Croatia ranks third in Group C of the first level in the European Nations League.
Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, ranked second in the world, bid an early farewell to the Beijing 1,000-point tournament with her exit in the third round after losing to Czech Nikola Bartonkova, ranked 34th in the world, 4-6, 3-6 on Sunday in an hour and 35 minutes.
The 20-year-old Czech player said: “I kept my focus to stay calm. “She is a legend...so I am very happy with this win.”
Bartonkova will face Austrian Senia Kraus, ranked 95th in the world, in an attempt to reach the quarter-finals. Sabalenka had five chances to break her opponent's serve in the sixth game of the first set, but she failed to capitalize on any of them.
Then she unleashed her frustration, after she threw her racket to the ground, after losing her serve in the second set, before surrendering on the first ball to decide the match.
Sabalenka, formerly ranked number one in the world, joined Kazakhstani Elena Rybakina, currently ranked number one, who lost in her first match in the tournament, in the second round, to Armenian Alina Charaeva, ranked 118th in the world (6-3), (4-6), and (3-6), on Saturday.
