Gerard Pique scored with three minutes remaining as holders Spain opened their EURO 2016 campaign with a 1-0 victory over Czech Republic in Toulouse.
Spain, winners of the Euros in both 2008 and 2012, dominated possession but had to wait until late on to make the breakthrough against Petr Cech and a resolute Czech backline, who came into the tournament with the worst defensive record of the teams who qualified.
t looked like Del Bosque's men would be held to a frustrating draw, but Pique nodded in his first goal at a major international tournament to ensure they began with a victory two years to the day since their humbling 5-1 defeat to Netherlands at the World Cup.
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| Spain have now kept 9 clean sheets in their last 10 games at the European Championships. They are rock solid Rock solid at the back courtesy of this two guys |
Spain now play Turkey on Friday as they continue their bid for an unprecedented third consecutive continental title.
A trio of saves from Cech ensured there were no goals in a relatively quiet first period.
Key Opta stats:
- The Spaniards have netted 10 goals in the last five minutes in normal time of Euro finals games, more than any other side
- Spain haven’t conceded a single goal in their last 600 minutes at the European Championships, the longest run in the history of the tournament.
- Tomas Rosicky is now the oldest and youngest player ever to represent Czech Republic at Euro final tournaments (35 years and 252 days vs Spain in this game and 19 years 250 days vs Netherlands in 2000).
- Spain now have five players with 100 or more caps at Euro 2016 (Casillas, Ramos, Iniesta, Fabregas, Silva), more than any other team.
- Rosicky played 88 minutes for Czech Republic against Spain, after managing just 19 minutes in all competitions for Arsenal in 2015/16.
- Petr Cech made more passes in this game than any other Czech Republic player (36).
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