Juanfran: Spain were overconfident

Juanfran admits Spain were “overconfident” in their 2-1 defeat to Croatia at Euro 2016 but insists they will not make the same mistake against Italy.

Sergio Ramos’ missed penalty was followed by a late Croatian winner on Tuesday to condemn Spain to second place in Group D and set up a last-16 rematch of the Euro 2012 final as opposed to a clash with Portugal, who failed to register a victory in their pool.

“I’d be lying if I said we hadn’t given much thought to the goal,” the Atletico Madrid right-back said at a Press conference.

“We know what happened and the overconfidence that can arise when things go well. We thought that if we had the game under control then it’d be on our side.

“We’ll correct this mistake against Italy, I’m absolutely sure of that. It was overconfidence [against Croatia]

“We had game under control and made more chances than them, we could’ve seen the match out at 2-1, but this mistake won’t happen against Italy.

“More than the defeat, we drew more positive conclusions than negative ones. You take more positives from defeats.

“It’s a game that nobody expected us to lose. It didn’t go as we wanted, but the defeat will help us to be stronger and improve on certain things.

“[Italy] are a great national team, and it’ll will be an even and tough game that we’ll do our best to win.

“The Coach will decide on the penalty takers with Toni Grande [Vicente del Bosque’s assistant] and the players who are confident.

“Hopefully we win, but without the need for penalties.”

Tags Euro 2016 Italy Juanfran Torres Spain
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