SPAIN became the first team to reach the semi-finals of the Euro 2024 European Championship tonight after a dramatic 2-1 victory over hosts Germany in their quarter-final clash in Stuttgart.
The 2008 and 2012 champions grabbed a late winner in the last minute of extra-time to advance to their second straight semi-final of the competition.
In a high-octane contest of end-to-end action, Spain took the lead six minutes into the second half through Dani Olmo, who had replaced Pedri after the Barcelona midfielder hobbled off with an injury.
Spain’s 16-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal set up the goal, teeing up Olmo for a low shot into the bottom corner after a late run into the box.
Germany ramped up the pressure after going behind and were rewarded late on, with substitute Florian Wirtz firing home off Joshua Kimmich’s clever header one minute before full-time.
The match went into extra-time and penalties were looming when yet another substitute Mikel Merino nodded in Olmo’s inch-perfect delivery in the 119th minute.
Timed at 118 minutes 52 seconds, Merino has now scored the third-latest winning goal in a UEFA European Championship match (118:52), after Michel Platini for France vs Portugal at EURO 1984 (118:53) and Artem Dovbyk for Ukraine vs Sweden at EURO 2020 (120:36), according to Opta statistics.
Despite a late red card to Dani Carvajal for a second booking, Spain held on and will battle either Portugal or France in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
