Cesar Azpilicueta has called on his teammates to take a thing or two from his club side Chelsea’s book to defy the odds and have a fruitful Euro 2020. Spain have already been written off courtesy of their failure to win any of their first two matches. This is very similar to Chelsea’s Champions League tournament where they were counted as underdogs throughout their run.
Spain have drawn both their games so far, against Sweden and Poland. While Sweden and Poland are definitely not bad teams, one expects Spain to put them to bed considering the quality of players on show.
Cesar Azpilicueta, who is one of many Premier League stars in the Spanish squad to be benched in the tournament has tried motivating his teammates with his words. He has compared Spain’s current situation to that of Chelsea’s when every European club wanted to face the Blues in the quarter finals.
“We’re not in the situation we expected to be in, that’s a reality. But it’s in our hands, we depend on ourselves, and it’s like a knockout tie already: do or die,” the Chelsea captain said. “I experienced this last season. In January things weren’t good and no one expected anything from us; they thought we were dead. But it’s not how it starts; it’s how it ends.”
The defender said: “The lesson from Chelsea was never give up. No one thought we would do anything; we were dead, we wouldn’t get in the top four in the Premier League. You learn that you have to fight until the end.”
Spain are currently stranded at 3rd position in a group they are expected to top. They face Slovakia in their final group game on Wednesday at Seville. It is a must win game for La Roja as there is no way they go through as a 3rd placed team with just 2 points on the board.
Luis Enrique will have to rethink his strategy as his forwards aren’t scoring enough goals to justify their selection.
