Spain reached the quarter-finals of the European Championships on Monday night after they edged a battling Croatia side in extra-time. In what was a fascinating game for the neutral spectator, Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta, who is always an unlikely scorer, managed to find the net with a header early on in the second-half, a goal that put the Spaniards 2-1 up at the time. And the defender has been congratulated for his goal, as well as winning the game, by Blues teammate and Croatian midfielder, Mateo Kovacic. When quizzed about whether there he was messaged by any of his teammates after scoring,
Caesar Azpilicueta said: “No, no (laughs). I spoke with Mateo (Kovacic) before the game and then he congratulated me and that’s it.”
They may have been rivals for the ninety minutes on Monday, but Azpilicueta understands that sometimes you have to play against and try to beat your friends in football.
Caesar Azpilicueta said: “It is football and many times you play against colleagues or against friends.”
When they return to London, the two will be focussed on working together again in order to help the Blues win more trophies. And even though they won the biggest club trophy in football back in May, Azpilicueta believes the pair have little time to dwell on that success.
Caesar Azpilicueta added: “It happens very fast and there is hardly any time to enjoy it. Everything happens very quickly.”
The 31-year-old will face Switzerland in the first quarter-final tomorrow evening. Although Spain are favourites to make it through to the last four, they know they’re in for a tough battle as the Swiss are fresh off a penalties win that knocked out tournament favourites France.
