The EURO 2020 is well into its knockout stages and if there is anything that can be used to separate this edition from the rest, it’s primarily the mind-boggling number of own goals scored so far. Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon scored arguably one of the most bizarre own goals in the history of the sport during their match against Croatia.
The tournament, which kickstarted with a Demiral own goal on the opening day, hosted the Round Of 16 fixture between Spain and Croatia in Copenhagen.
Both the sides headed into the contest following a series of underwhelming performances in the group stage.
Spain, as expected, kept the bulk of the possession in the early stages of the match and even had a couple of decent chances to go on the front. However, poor finishing let the three-time Euro Champions once again.
The Croatian unit were passive in their approach and barely even made their way into the Spanish half of the field.
Unfortunately, for Spain, they dug their own grave as a harmless backpass from Pedri. somehow evaded Unai Simon and found its way into the back of the net right in front of the Croatian fans.
Watch Unai Simon’s howler right below:
The goalkeeper only managed to put in minimal contact from the long backpass from the young midfielder. The power in the pass was more than enough to carry itself into the net despite Simon’s casual touch.
This is just the second goal that Spain have conceded in the tournament so far. They managed to secure cleansheets over Sweden and Slovakia in the group stages.
Spain have managed to claw their way back into the contest with a goal from Pablo Sarabia. The nation will look to avoid an elimination at this stage of the tournament, much like their World Cup elimination at the hand of hosts Russia.
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