Surprisingly, Turkey are not out of contention for passage to the knockout rounds, but they’ll need a win against the Czech Republic and some favourable results in the other group stage finales to sneak through with a third-placed finish.
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“I’m very happy for the match the team played, very happy for the goals but above all for being here”.
The Spaniards took the lead in the 34th minute at the Stade de Nice when Juventus’ Alvaro Morata’s header beat keeper Volkan Babacan.
Iniesta, immaculate throughout, threaded a ball through the Turkish defence to Jordi Alba who squared to Morata for his second of the night, a tap-in through Babacan’s legs. “We played a great game against a hard team”.
From the half-hour though, Spain moved up a gear, starving Turkey of possession and, with Iniesta pulling the strings in midfield, carving out chance after chance.
Playing their patented brand of “tiki-taka” football, the defending champions put together 21 passes, including a sublime through ball from Andres Iniesta, before Alvaro Morata scored into an open net.
By the end f the game Spain managed to have 9 shots on target and 6 off target.
Morata’s two goals against Turkey improved the striker’s tally to five global goals from 11 caps as he continues to build an impressive record for the Spanish team.
Turkey captain Arda Turan struggled to influence the game and was loudly booed by his own fans. “I have never accepted this and I will never accept it…”
“It was not good to see Arda booed by our fans”, Terim said. Spain also hasn’t conceded a goal in the European tournament since its opener in 2012, a 1-1 draw against Italy.
Spain have not lost at the European Championship since a 1-0 defeat to Portugal in 2004 and looked at their imperious best in the Allianz Riviera despite a lack of fight from Turkey.
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Turkey faces a fine from UEFA after its fans used flares and a smoke bomb in the stands, and repeatedly threw firecrackers onto the field, after the final whistle.
