Milla: Missed chances cost Spain

Spain boss Luis Milla felt his side’s inability to put the ball in the back of the net cost them any chance of an Olympic medal.

Milla saw his team go down 1-0 to Honduras at St James’ Park on Sunday after the defeat to Japan in the opening Group D game last week, yet considers a host of missed chances were to blame for his side’s shock exit from the tournament.

“Against Honduras we deserved to win because of the way we played and the chances we created,” he told a Press conference.

“Two weeks ago we did not want to put pressure on the team, but seeing how we played then if we had taken all our chances we should be up there fighting for the medals.”

The 46-year-old insisted it was the lack of goals that was to blame and refused to talk about the performance of the referee, who the Spanish were unhappy with after turning down what looked two good penalty appeals.

 “The only thing we were missing was a goal and I do not want to talk about the referee, although I felt that he should have given us a penalty,” lamented Milla, who added that his players were ´sad and disappointed` after doing everything possible to secure victory.

“I think the players were very mature and tried every way they could to score a goal. We tried right until the end and I am happy with that.

“There may have been some pressure but these are class players who can handle any situation.

“Our preparations were similar to Denmark, when we won the European Under-21 Championship, but we have not been as sharp during these Games.”

Tags Honduras Milla Spain Olympic Team
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