"Croatia presses step by step—Spain once again retreats the ball to the left side of the penalty area. How will Puyol handle it?!"
Marchena was positioned on the right side of the penalty area, the entire Spanish backline forming a U-shaped stance. Their full-backs were high up, but they were tightly marked by the advancing Vukojević.
On the other side, Modrić was waiting.
Croatia's formation pressed high with the attitude of:"If you dare pass, we'll dare to press!"
Under this kind of pressure, Marchena anxiously looked for a passing lane.
But seeing Marchena hesitate, Kranjčar didn't give him time to think.
He charged forward to press.
Seeing Kranjčar move, Marchena had no choice but to pass back to the goalkeeper.
When Šuker saw the pass, his eyes lit up. He sprinted toward Puyol, cutting off Casillas' passing angle to the opposite flank.
Simultaneously, Kranjčar turned and sprinted toward Casillas.
Under pressure, Casillas noticed Senna dropping back quickly to support.
So Casillas played a pass toward the center, trying to find him.
But then — a sudden change!
Mandžukić burst in from the side —He and Senna collided hard, and the ball bounced off Senna's foot straight to Kranjčar.
"OH!!! What a chance!!"
Kraushvić suddenly stood up.
At that moment, every Croatian fan stretched their necks, eyes wide in anticipation.
Spain was playing with fire.They were literally playing with fire in their own box.
Kranjčar was right at the penalty spot.Three meters ahead stood Casillas, the goalkeeper.
Kranjčar immediately passed the ball sideways, aiming for the incoming Mandžukić to shoot.
But as Mandžukić looked up, he saw Casillas shifting toward him, and Puyol was right behind, forming a wall.
Mandžukić calmly cut the ball to the left, then shouted:
"Leave it!"
Kranjčar instinctively spread his legs, letting the ball slip between them.
At the far post, Šuker was completely unmarked, and the ball was rolling right to him.
"ŠUKER!!!!"
Kraushvić's voice rose to a shriek.
The whole stadium held its breath.
Faced with this once-in-a-lifetime chance, Šuker's heart thumped in his chest.He fought back the excitement and simply passed the ball into the near corner.
No tricks. No drama. Just a simple finish.
SWISH!
The ball hit the net with a crisp sound.
For a moment, the entire Happel Stadium went dead silent.
The referee paused for a second—then pointed to the center circle and blew his whistle.
GOAL VALID!
WOOOOOOOAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
The stadium erupted like a volcano.
Tens of thousands of Croatian fans leapt to their feet, screaming uncontrollably.
Their palms turned red from clapping, but they couldn't hold back the ecstatic joy inside.
A goal!
They'd scored first!
"GOOOOOOOOOOAL!!! ŠUKER!!!"
Kraushvić's cheeks were trembling with excitement.
"Spain played with fire! They were TOO confident passing around their box!That confidence backfired —When Marchena passed back to the keeper, Croatia's lads had already cut off all passing lanes.They forced Casillas to pass into midfield — and THAT pass went wrong!"
"Mario Mandžukić!He timed it perfectly, clashing with Senna, forcing the turnover.Then Kranjčar passed it to Mandžukić, and Mandžukić COOLLY slid it left!"
"Šuker faced an open goal — and finished easily!"
"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!THIS is the tiki-taka everyone fears?THIS is the Spain everyone's been praising all tournament?Look at what these Croatian boys just did!!"
"They've shown the world HOW to handle tiki-taka!"
Kraushvić kept shouting, voice filled with glee.
Inside, he was feeling triumphant.
Though many predicted a fierce contest, the media largely believed Croatia was the underdog.
Even though Croatia had stars like Šuker and Modrić,in terms of overall squad strength, they were still thought to be weaker than Spain.
But now?
Spain had been rattled by Croatia's opening storm.
They were playing with fire in their own box!
"HAHAHA!! GOAL!!"
Šuker sprinted wildly across the field, sliding on his chest in the corner flag zone.
Soon, all his teammates rushed over, piling on top of him.
"GOAL!"
"We've messed them up!"
"It worked! It REALLY worked!"
"Šuker! You were RIGHT!"
"We're gonna win! We're going to the final!"
They rolled around, celebrating in a heap.
Their faces trembled with sheer excitement.
The Croatian fans in the stands were going wild.
Among them, Davor Šuker threw his arms up in celebration:
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
He couldn't contain himself.
He was ecstatic. He was overwhelmed. He had no words — only primal howls.
Beside him, Zvonimir Boban pounded his chest, shouting at the top of his lungs.
They had scored! They had taken the lead!And it was a crucial goal.
"If we win this match, he's a hero! Šuker will be a hero!" Davor Šuker shouted. "As long as he gets us to the final, he'll be forgiven for anything!"
"Just the final?" Boban's eyes gleamed. "The championship!If they beat Spain, we have a real shot at the title!"
Šuker fell silent.
His heart pounded violently.
Championship. The Euro championship. A title Croatia had never won.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Šuker howled again.
Meanwhile, Spanish fans clutched their heads in despair.
The moment they saw Marchena pass back to Casillas, they knew something was wrong.
Sure enough, Croatia capitalized and scored.
Now, Spain was in trouble.
"Just clear the ball! Why play those risky passes?!"
"What were they thinking?!"
The Spanish commentator cried out in frustration.
That goal was pure self-destruction.
In that moment, it wasn't about possession — it was about survival.
Spain over-prioritized ball control, tried to build from the back,and got punished.
In the 29th minute, Croatia took the lead.
Now things were only going to get tougher.
Croatia finished celebrating and returned to their half.
But the Croatian fans were still cheering madly.
Spain's players had dark, serious expressions.
They began thinking about how to break Croatia's high press.
But before they could fully regroup—
Croatia cranked up the pressure again.
They clearly weren't content with just one goal.
Especially after scoring — they wanted to strike again while Spain was shaken.
Spain was so rattled that even when a pass was clearly open,they didn't dare use it — instead, they just booted the ball upfield.
Vukojević and Torres battled for the aerial ball —Vukojević won it, heading it to Rakitić in the center circle.
Rakitić turned as he received the ball and, before Senna could close him down,slipped a pass into space on the left.
Whoosh!!
Ramos realized too late.A gust of wind flew past him — he turned around in shock and sprinted back.
Šuker was flying down the sideline.
Ramos chased desperately.
"Šuker again! Is Croatia's left wing about to explode?!"
Šuker took the ball and cut inside, heading toward the box.
Seeing this, Ramos panicked —he stretched out his foot and tripped Šuker's supporting leg.
Šuker had just stepped into the penalty area.
His ankle got caught — and he crashed into the box.
GASP!!
The whole stadium roared.
"No way~~~"
Spanish fans stared nervously at the referee.
The ref sprinted toward Ramos, flashed a yellow card,and pointed to the penalty spot.
"PENALTY!!"
Kraushvić lost his mind:
"Šuker draws a penalty!!Only 8 minutes after scoring, he's earned another golden chance!"
"Can Spain withstand Croatia's counterattacks?!"
His voice was full of pride and joy.