“I told an Italian reporter before that you should be happy not playing Croatia”, he added. They rallied without Maya Moore, who injured her left thigh in the fourth quarter.
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Germany dominated, with Thomas Mueller, who set up Gomez’s goal, twice firing against the woodwork in the first half.
However the 2-0 win against Czechs just came in time Turkey needed it the most as a morale booster.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque defended his players after a 2-1 defeat by Croatia on Tuesday that means they must face old rivals Italy in the round of 16 at the Euro 2016 tournament.
With three minutes remaining Croatia grabbed the victor, racing upfield on the break through Perisic, who drove into the box and netted from an angle as his shot deflected off Gerard Pique and past De Gea at his near post on a night to forget for the United stopper.
There had already been talk about Casillas starting against Croatia because Spain had qualified in advance, but in the end Del Bosque made a decision to keep the same 11 from the first two matches and did not give any rest to the regular starters.
Spain are now in the same half of the Euro 2016 draw as Italy, Germany, France and England and Del Bosque conceded facing Italy so early on was not on his agenda.
Sergio Ramos missed the chance to put Spain back in front from the penalty spot, and Perisic’s late strike was enough to send Croatia to the top of Group D, with Spain now facing a daunting task against Italy in the last 16.
“The path now might be seen as more hard but you never know where the danger is”.
Fiorentina forward Nikola Kalinic tied the score 1-1 for Croatia in the 45th minute with a magic twist dink in a cross.
TURKEY 2, CZECH REPUBLIC 0 (at Lens, France) – Turkey rebounded from two losses, keeping alive its chances of reaching the knockout stage.
Croatia’s midfielder Ivan Perisic (Top C) celebrates his goal with teammates during the Euro 2016 Group D football match against Spain at the Matmut Atlantique Stadium in Bordeaux Tuesday.
Poland 1, Ukraine 0 • Second-half substitute Jakub Blaszczykowski scored in the 54th minute and Poland held on to win in Marseille, France, to reach the knockout round of the tourney for the first time.
Turkey coach Fatih Terim stuck by striker Burak Yilmaz, despite his disappointing performances in earlier matches, and the act of faith paid off.
“He didn’t have too much to do and we can’t blame him for the goals”.
“We achieved first place and I can be really satisfied that in all three matches we were really aggressive, we played to win”, said Cacic after the Group D drama.
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Croatia took full advantage to blow the tournament wide open as Perisic lashed home to round off a clinical counter-attack.
