English player Anthony Gordon, Barcelona player, expressed his disappointment after the 3-2 loss to Spain in the start of the two teams’ European Nations League campaign, on Saturday evening.
Gordon, who scored the first goal for England in the match, said: “It is like a missed opportunity. It was a wonderful match, and the Spaniards presented an offensive performance at the highest level in some periods.”
The Barcelona player added, “When you pay the price for mistakes in such scenarios, you get the feeling that you over-won by winning more than the opponent’s victory, but the truth is that the level of the two teams is close.”
Anthony Gordon spoke about his teammate Harry Kane missing a penalty kick that was enough to give England a 3-1 lead in the second half, saying, “I believe that scoring this kick would have made our position special and pushed us for more.”
The English star concluded, “We sought to win with all our strength, but wasting penalty kicks is a common occurrence in football.”
At Wembley Stadium, the Spanish took the lead with an early goal scored by Lamine Yamal in the second minute, and the English responded with goals from Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane in the 36th and 40th minutes.
In the second half, Harry Kane, the England star and captain, missed a penalty kick, hitting the crossbar in the 54th minute.
But the substitutes played a decisive role in turning the tables on England, as Spain equalized with a goal by substitute Alex Baena in the 60th minute, before passing the ball for the third goal to the other substitute, Mikel Oyarzabal, in the 74th minute.
The Spaniards captured three valuable points at the beginning of the campaign, leading the third group of the first level, superior on goal difference to Croatia, which beat the Czechs with a score of 2: 1 at the same time.
With a more than wonderful level, and a fighting performance from its players, Al-Akhdar reached the semi-finals in the (Gulf 27) tournament held on its home soil after defeating Oman 3-0 on Saturday in the second round of the first group matches.
The Saudi team began its tournament with a 1-0 win over Kuwait, thus topping the group with six points and clinching qualification before its third match.
Iraq ranks second with four points after its 3-2 victory over Kuwait.
The struggle for the second qualification card from the group takes place through the third round of its matches, which witnesses Iraq meeting with Saudi Arabia and Oman, which is in third place with one point, with Kuwait, whose exit from the first round has already been confirmed.
The three goals for the Saudi national team came in the first half and were scored by Firas Al-Braikan (first and third) and Hassan Kadish, while a goal by Omani Nasser Al-Rawahi was canceled in the same half due to offside.
Al-Braikan said to Al-Kas Sports Channels after the match, “Praise be to God, good luck to the Omani team, and congratulations to us and the Saudi fans. We entered today’s match at a different level than the first match. The first match is always difficult, but we provided the required performance and the result.”
On the other hand, Oman player Jamil Al-Yahmadi said about Saudi Arabia’s early goals in today’s match, “They took advantage of three mistakes and scored from them, then we returned to the atmosphere of the match. We apologize to our fans, and God willing, we will be able to compensate in the future.”
Regarding the difficulty of placing Oman in the group, as Iraq seems closest to qualifying in light of the difference in points and goals, Al-Yahmadi said, “We are still in the tournament. We will focus first on ourselves and we will try to compensate in what comes next, God willing.”
The Saudi team made a strong start that caught the attention, and Saleh Abu Al-Shamat shot a powerful ball that went over the crossbar. Then Saudi Arabia opened the scoring in the 11th minute with the first goal by Al-Braikan, who received a cross from Abu Al-Shamat and headed it into the net.
Seconds later, Saudi Arabia almost got a penalty kick because Sultan Mandash was obstructed by Ahmed Al Kaabi, but the referee indicated to continue playing after reviewing the video technology.
Saudi Arabia added its second goal in the 18th minute, when Kadish received the ball from a corner kick taken by Abu Al-Shamat, and headed the ball into the net.
Al-Braikan continued his brilliance, adding his second goal and the third goal for his country in the 34th minute, as he exchanged the ball brilliantly with Mendash and then shot with his left foot into the net.
Less than two minutes later, Saudi Arabia's net was conceded by Al-Rawahi, who launched and shot a ball that passed over goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais and into the net, but the referee did not count it as a goal due to offside, and confirmed his decision after returning to video technology.
Oman intensified its offensive pressure in the second half, and Al Rawahi shot a shot that was blocked by the post in the 48th minute, and Al Owais blocked another shot from Issam Al Subhi in the 56th minute.
Omani goalkeeper Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini also excelled in stopping more than one dangerous ball to preserve his country’s hopes of returning in the match and reducing the difference to enhance the hope of qualifying through the third round.
But the Saudi national team maintained its lead until the final whistle to qualify for the semi-finals with a clean sheet.
