Spain captain Alvaro Morata has twisted his knee in a freak accident after a security guard slipped and fell into him just minutes after his country qualified for the finals of Euro 2024.
Spain played an excellent game on Tuesday night as Lamine Yamal starred in a 2-1 win over France in the semi-finals of the European Championship.
However, moments after the match ended and the Spanish players had gathered to celebrate, a security guard can be seen slipping on the pitch and hitting Morata’s knee.
The Atlético Madrid forward grimaced as his knee was twisted by the impact and was visibly upset as he left the field.
Spain hope he will be fit for Sunday’s final but are waiting with bated breath as the player is due to undergo a scan on Wednesday.
Spain captain Alvaro Morata leaves the field after being substituted during the semi-final
After the final whistle, the striker cheered as his country won 2-1
However, the joy soon turned to fear when a guard slipped and injured the player
The former Juventus and Chelsea striker was seen writhing in pain after the collision
This comes after Morata caused a storm of protest in the Spanish training camp by threatening to leave the national team after the tournament, due to ‘nonsense’ criticism.
The striker previously admitted that it would be ‘easiest’ for him to move abroad due to the poor treatment and spoke about the impact on his family, consisting of his wife and four young children.
He also floated the idea of leaving Atletico Madrid just a week after pledging his future to the club, fuming and saying that ‘in Spain there is no respect for anyone’.
His explosive interview with El Mundo caused a stir in his home country ahead of the semi-final against France.
‘It could be [my last tournament with Spain]’, Morata told the outlet. ‘It’s a possibility that I don’t want to talk about too much, but it’s likely.’
The striker played for Real Madrid, Juventus and Chelsea before moving to Atlético in 2019, where he was initially loaned. Relations with Spanish fans are tense.
He was booed during Spain’s Euro 2020 campaign and was notably booed during a friendly against Brazil at the Bernabeu in March.
“In Spain it’s hard for me to be happy,” Morata said. “Without a doubt [I’m happier outside of Spain]. I’ve said it many times. Mainly because people respect me.
‘In Spain there is no respect for anything or anyone.’
His teammates didn’t seem too concerned about the Spaniard’s injury
Security personnel apologized several times to the player whose knee appeared to be twisted
On Tuesday evening, Spain took a big step towards a record fourth European Championship trophy by beating France 2-1 at the Allianz Arena.
Luis de la Fuente’s team made a slow start to the semi-final, falling behind after just ten minutes to an opening goal from Randal Kolo Muani.
But it took just 11 minutes for La Roja to level the score, thanks to a stunning goal from 16-year-old Lamine Yamal.
Four minutes later, Dani Olmo put his team ahead and France had to chase the score against a team that had a 100 percent winning percentage in the league until then. Despite a stronger second half full of near chances, they were unable to turn the deficit around.
Yamal made European Championship history when he became the youngest goalscorer in the tournament’s history.
The Spanish prodigy, just 16 years and 362 days old, broke that record in style by finding the net with a stunning long-range shot against France.
Before Yamal fired the ball into the top corner of Mike Maignan’s goal, he surprised French midfielder Adrien Rabiot with some beautiful footwork.
This came just a day after Rabiot told reporters that Yamal needed to improve his game to put Les Bleus in trouble.
Rabiot said of Yamal on Monday: ‘We saw that he was a player who could handle pressure well. He has a lot of qualities. He is able to play with his qualities at club level, but also at big tournaments, without pressure.
Yamal had earlier sparked Spain’s comeback by scoring an incredible equaliser to become the youngest goalscorer in European Championship history
He celebrated exuberantly that he had become the youngest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship
Mbappe was speechless and couldn’t hide his admiration for Yamal’s wonder goal
‘It’s always difficult to reach a semi-final in such a tournament, but it’s up to us to put pressure on him, make him feel uncomfortable and show him that to play in a European Championship final he has to do a lot more than he has done so far.’
Yamal responded by writing on Instagram: ‘Move in silence. Speak only when it’s time to say checkmate.’
Before Yamal, Switzerland’s Johan Vonlanthen held the record for the youngest goalscorer at a European Men’s Championship.
Vonlanthen was 18 years and 141 days old when he scored at Euro 2004, also against France.
Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney – who scored for England against Switzerland in 2004 237 days after his 18th birthday – has dropped to third on the list.
With Tuesday’s wonder goal, Yamal’s total international goals tally now stands at four, having scored three times in his previous 12 appearances for La Roja.
The winger plays club football for Barcelona and is a product of the club’s famous La Masia academy.
Alan Shearer, who was part of the BBC commentary team on Tuesday evening, was full of praise for Yamal during half-time.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Shearer said. “We’ve talked about him in this tournament and to see him at 16, at this level, under this scrutiny, and to do that, it’s just outrageous. I mean, he shouldn’t be staying up that late!”
Rio Ferdinand added: “For this young boy to do unprecedented things at this age is ridiculous,” before Gary Lineker declared Yamal “the next superstar of football”.