Spanish captain Alvaro Morata has twisted his knee in a freak accident after a security guard slipped and fell into him only minutes after his country qualified for the Euro 2024 final.
Spain were excellent tonight as Lamine Yamal shone in a 2-1 win over France in the semi-final of the European Championships.
However, just moments after the game finished and the Spanish players gathered for their celebrations, a security guard can be seen slipping on the surface of the pitch and smashing into Morata’s knee.
The Atletico Madrid striker was wincing in pain as his knee twisted from the impact and was visibly upset as he left the pitch.
Spain are hopeful that he will be fit for Sunday’s final but face an anxious wait as the player has a scan on Wednesday.Â
This comes after Morata sparked a storm in Spain’s camp after threatening to quit the national team when the tournament concludes over ‘nonsense’ criticism.
The striker previously admitted it would be ‘easiest’ for him to move abroad because of the poor treatment and laid bare the effect on his family, including his wife and four young children.
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He also floated the idea of leaving Atletico Madrid just a week on from seemingly pledging his future to the club, raging that ‘in Spain, there’s no respect for anyone’.
His explosive interview with El Mundo caused uproar in his homeland ahead of the semi-final against France.
‘It could be [my last tournament with Spain],’ Morata told the outlet. ‘It’s a possibility that I don’t want to talk about too much, but it’s probable.’
The striker, who played for Real Madrid, Juventus and Chelsea before joining Atletico, initially on loan in 2019, has endured a tense relationship with Spanish supporters.Â
He had been whistled during Spain’s campaign at Euro 2020 and notably jeered throughout a friendly against Brazil at the Bernabeu in March.
‘In Spain it’s hard for me to be happy,’ Morata said. ‘Without doubt [I’m happier outside of Spain]. I’ve said it many times. Above all, because people respect me.Â
‘In Spain there’s no respect for anything or anyone.’
On Tuesday night Spain made a giant leap towards claiming a record fourth European Championship trophy after defeating France 2-1 at the Allianz Arena.
Luis de la Fuente’s side endured a breathless start to the semi-final clash after falling behind thanks to opening goal from Randal Kolo Muani within the first 10 minutes.
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But it took just 11 more for La Roja to find themselves on equal footing, courtesy of a superbly struck goal from 16-year-old prodigal Lamine Yamal.
Four minutes later, Dani Olmo pulled his side ahead and France were left to chase the scoreline against a side with an 100 per cent win record in the competition thus far, and despite a stronger second-half showing littered with almost-chances, failed to overturn the deficit.
Yamal made European Championship history when he became the youngest scorer in the competition’s history.
The Spain wonderkid, aged just 16 years and 362 days, broke that record in style by finding the net with a stunning long-range strike against France.
Before bending the ball into the top corner of Mike Maignan’s net, Yamal dazzled France midfielder Adrien Rabiot with some fine footwork.
This came just a day after Rabiot had told reporters that Yamal needed to raise his game in order to trouble Les Bleus.
Rabiot said of Yamal on Monday: ‘We saw that he was a player who knew how to handle pressure very well. He has a lot of qualities. He is capable of playing with his qualities at club level as well as in major tournaments, without pressure.
‘Afterwards, it is always complicated to manage a semi-final in a tournament like that, but it will be up to us to put the pressure on him above all, not to let him feel comfortable and to show him that to play in a Euro final, he will have to do much more than what he has done so far.’
Yamal responded by writing on Instagram: ‘Move in silence. Only speak when it’s time to say checkmate.’
Prior to Yamal, Switzerland’s Johan Vonlanthen had held the record as the youngest scorer at a men’s European Championship.
Vonlanthen was aged 18 years and 141 days when he found the net at Euro 2004, also against France.
Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney – who scored for England against Switzerland 237 days after his 18th birthday in 2004 – has now dropped down to third place on the list.
Tuesday’s wonder-strike took Yamal’s tally of senior international goals to four, after he had netted three in his previous 12 appearances for La Roja.
The winger plays his club football for Barcelona and is a product of the club’s famous La Masia academy.
Alan Shearer, who was part of the BBC’s punditry team on Tuesday night, waxed lyrical about Yamal during the half-time break.
‘Just incredible,’ said Shearer. ‘We’ve been talking about him this tournament and seeing him at 16, to come and perform at this level, under this scrutiny, and then to do that, just outrageous. I mean, he shouldn’t even be up that late!’
Rio Ferdinand added: ‘This young kid doing unprecedented stuff at this age is ridiculous’, before Gary Lineker declared that Yamal was ‘football’s next superstar’.