Denmark 0-1 Spain (Cardona 90′)
BRENTFORD COMMUNITY STADIUM — Manchester United defender Ona Batlle declared, “Spain are ready for England” after Jorge Vilda’s side booked a quarter-final meeting with the Women’s Euros hosts at Brighton on Wednesday.
“We were born to play this game,” added Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati. “It’s going to be very motivating for us to play against England in their home with the crowd.”
The pair were speaking after Marta Cardona’s 90th-minute header ended Spain’s three-hour wait for a goal and killed off Danish opposition at Brentford on Saturday night.
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Spain had previously lost 2-0 to group C winners Germany but coach Jorge Vilda said England would be their “the toughest game in the Euros given the level England are playing at – and that they are the host nation.”
He added: “But that is something that motivates us. We like a challenge.”
Batlle concurred: “We are so excited and we are ready to go,” she said. “We’ve seen a lot of England games and they play really well. They have a really good squad – it is not just the [starting] players. Everyone there is a good player.
“They are very strong and they are playing in England, they have that [home advantage]. But that’s going to be a boost for us because we know everything [about them] and we are ready for them. I think we can do it.”
Spain lost captain Alexia Putellas, the world player of the year, on the eve of the tournament with a knee injury. Having already had striker Jenni Hermoso ruled out they lacked a cutting edge to finish their possession, but in Putellas’ absence, Bonmati has shone.
Having been made player of the match for the second time in the tournament she added of facing England: “We know that they are a good team but we’re not scared, we’re motivated.
“We think we can beat them but we have to improve.”
How to watch England vs Spain
- Date: Wednesday 20 July
- Kick-off time: 8pm
- TV channel: BBC One, coverage begins at 7.30pm
- Live stream: BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website
- Stadium: Amex Stadium, Brighton
The teams drew 0-0 at Norwich in the Arnold Clark Cup earlier this year. Spain, with Putellas and Hermoso playing, dominated possession but England, despite fielding only five of Wednesday’s likely starting XI, allowed only four shots on target.
Saturday’s match was similar with Denmark sitting deep, conceding possession, and seeking to score the goal they needed on the counter. Chelsea’s Pernille Harder almost engineered such a breakthrough before, with 20 minutes left, Lars Sondergaard changed tack and switched his team into attacking mode.
Were it not for a fine save by Sandra Panos from substitute Nadia Nadim, Sondergaard would have masterminded one of the great football heists, but instead it was Spain who struck, Cardona heading in Olga Carmona’s cross.
Denmark were surprise runners-up in 2017 but faced a tough draw. Sondergaard said: “We knew this was the group of death, unfortunately, we were the ones who died. But we fought for our lives.”
Also on Saturday Germany beat Finland 3-0 at Milton Keynes and in the last eight will play Austria, at Brentford, on Thursday.
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