It's not just a Spanish squad without any Real Madrid players for the first time in World Cup history, it's also a squad full of Barcelona players – up to eight, a feat the white club has never achieved – with a marked anti-Madrid accent due to the historic rivalry between the two clubs. The list, which is still causing a stir, caused havoc in a Real Madrid fully immersed in an electoral process.

Although in a football match it is important to get off to a good start, the most important thing is how you finish.  The Spanish Olympic team has started losing against Ivory Coast and in less than ten minutes they have also lost Òscar Mingueza. The blaugrana footballer, who was returning to play after contracting a femoral biceps in the first match of the Games, suffered from his injury at the very beginning and the Madrid player Vallejo, who is more of a centre-back than a winger, substituted him on the right wing. But despite losing a player to injury so early on and conceding a goal after just ten minutes, the state side rallied to draw level in a match that still had a crazy twist in store. In the 90th minute the Africans went ahead again, but not a minute later, with the first ball touched by Rafa Mir, Spain drew level again in a match that was decided in extra time with a penalty goal from Mikel Oyarzabal and two more goals from Mir (5-2). They will now meet the winner of the match between hosts Japan and New Zealand in the semi-finals.

The Spanish national team qualified for the semi-finals of the European Championship after defeating Switzerland in a penalty shootout. A match in which Luis Enrique's team did not show the theoretical superiority against the Swiss team until the rival was left with ten players. The roja lacked the aim to finish off the match in extra time and played it from eleven meters. The mistakes of Busquets and Rodri was not too catastrophic, because Unai Simon made an exhibition under the posts and saved, consecutively, the shots of Schaer, Akanji and Vargas. Oyarzabal scored the decisive penalty. Luis Enrique raised his fists in victory, relieved after a tie that had almost run aground.