MORATA UNDER FIRE
Striker’s boos battle:
Spain’s players are backing under-fire striker Alvaro Morata to silence his critics against Poland tonight. Morata is getting abuse from his own supporters after missing crucial chances in the opening 0-0 draw with Sweden in Group E.
The former Chelsea striker suffered the indignity of whistles and cat-calls when he was substituted on Monday.
Team-mate Koke could be seen trying to drown out the jeers and encourage applause, while manager Luis Enrique made a point of clapping his man off.
Enrique insists no amount of terrace pressure will influence his decisions over the Atletico Madrid forward, who has just agreed to stay on loan at Juventus for another year.
Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte said: “No one should have doubts about a striker like Alvaro. Maybe next time he will score and shut everyone’s mouth.”
Morata has taken the brunt of the flak for Spain’s failure to win in Seville, despite having 17 attempts on Sweden’s goal and out-passing them by the astonishing margin of 852-103.
The fierce campaign against Morata has only served to rally his team-mates behind him.
Marcos Llorente said: “We all know how important he is. I don’t think whistling at him is good.
“There are two games left and I would encourage people to support him.”
Midfielder Koke not only offered his support on the pitch in the first game but is convinced Spain will come good.
He said: “It’s a shame because we did all we could to win. I’d be more concerned if we didn’t have any chances. I’m sure we’ll start scoring. The only thing we missed was putting the ball in the net.”
Another team-mate, Pablo Sarabia, said: “The mood and the goals are the responsibility of all of us.We all defend, we all attack. Morata’s a cracker of a player.”
Poland’s superstar striker Robert Lewandowski is another man desperate to get on the scoresheet after the shock 2-1 defeat by Slovakia in the opening game cranked up the pressure.
The Bayern Munich goal machine has always emphasised the importance of his team-mates and steers clear of pointing the finger when chances dry up.
However, after the Slovakia disappointment, he conceded: “The last pass did not arrive very often.”
Poland manager Paulo Sousa acknowledged that to have any chance against Spain they will need to supply their main man with the ammunition, saying: “We left
Robert all alone at times.”