Spain followed its gritty 2-1 win against England at Wembley Stadium last week with a 6-0 rout of World Cup runner-up Croatia on Tuesday (Sep 11), keeping Enrique perfect since taking over as La Roja’s coach. It was the biggest defeat ever for Croatia, which was playing its first competitive game since reaching the 2018 World Cup final in Russia.
Spain's impressive start to the UEFA Nations League continued as they thrashed World Cup runners-up Croatia. Luis Enrique's side - who beat England at Wembley in their opener in the competition on Saturday - never looked back after Saul Niguez's headed opener.
Marco Asensio fired in from 20 yards and then, shortly after, saw another rifled effort hit the bar and find the net via Croatia keeper Lovre Kalinic.
Rodrigo, Sergio Ramos and Isco made it a rout for the superb Spanish.
Rodrigo - who scored the winner at Wembley - beat the offside trap before finishing neatly, Ramos headed in from a corner and Isco turned sharply before firing in from inside the box.
Croatia, whose side contained just four of those who started the World Cup final in Moscow this July - defender Domagoj Vida and midfielders Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Ivan Perisic - had actually started the game the stronger but now have to regroup before facing England in October.
Spain's two wins out of two in the Nations League see them top League A Group 4 with six points. Croatia and England are both pointless after one game.
Belgium thrives
Belgium earned a comfortable win over Iceland thanks to a pair of goals by Romelu Lukaku and one from Eden Hazard.
Lukaku and Hazard, whose goal came off a penalty kick, were two of Belgium’s top players in its third-place campaign at the World Cup.
Belgium had defeated Scotland 4-0 in a friendly last week in Glasgow.
Lower league
In the second-tiered League B, Bosnia-Herzegovina followed its opening win at Northern Ireland with a 1-0 home victory against Austria, thanks to a 78th-minute goal by Edin Dzeko.
In League C, Finland edged Estonia 1-0 at home on Teemu Pukki’s early goal for its second straight win. Hungary, which lost its opener to Finland, defeated Greece 2-1 in Budapest.
In League D, Luxembourg won 3-0 at San Marino for its second consecutive victory, while Moldova played a scoreless home draw with Belarus.
The Nations League guarantees at least one of Europe’s low-ranked League D teams will qualify for Euro 2020 through a playoff.
- Source: New websites
