Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has called for extra time to be scrapped in the round of 16 and quarter-finals at Euro 2024 in the future, despite his team beating Germany in the quarter-finals after playing 30 extra minutes divided into two halves.
The Spanish national team will meet its French counterpart later today, Tuesday, in the semi-finals of “Euro 2024”.
De la Fuente feels that if his team had not had to play 120 minutes against Germany on Friday, they would have been more energetic in today’s match.
Mikel Merino scored the winning goal for Spain against Germany in the 119th minute in a match that ended with a score of 2-1.
Four matches were held in the quarter-finals, three of which went into extra time, and two ended in penalty kicks, with France beating Portugal and England beating Switzerland.
The second semi-final match will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, where the English team will meet its Dutch counterpart, who defeated the Turkish team in regular time 2-1.
“In tournaments like the Euros, which require a lot of effort, it might be better to eliminate extra time,” De la Fuente told reporters in Munich, adding, however, that extra time should be kept in the semi-finals and final.
The Spanish coach added: “Abolishing extra time and going directly to penalty kicks in the first two knockout rounds will help improve the enjoyment of watching the matches, because the players will be more active and will enter the advanced rounds with greater vitality.”
In the 2024 Copa America, extra time will be used in the final match if needed, and in the early knockout rounds, if the two teams tie after the end of regular time, they go directly to penalty kicks.
., and the latest political and economic developments via Google News