Barcelona star’s unusual excuse for Spain’s struggles in Olympics opener | OneFootball

A member of the defensive ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona provided something of a bizarre response, when questioned on Spain’s performance in the country’s opening fixture at the Olympic games.

Fresh off clinching glory at Euro 2024, Spain kicked into gear the country’s endeavours at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.

As much came by way of a meeting with minnows Uzbekistan.

When all was said and done, La Roja managed to get the job done, kicking their campaign into gear with a victory.

This, however, came in considerably less convincing fashion than had been predicted.

After Marc Pubill’s opener was cancelled out by Eldor Shomurodov on the stroke of the interval, Sergio Gómez proved himself match-winner, courtesy of the game’s decisive goal just beyond the hour mark.

Spain, in turn, emerged on the right side of a 2-1 result.

And yet, post-match in France’s capital, spirits were not exactly high in the camp of Santi Denia’s troops.

As much, as alluded to above, comes with a Spanish outfit with sights set firmly on the gold medal at the Olympics having toiled for lengthy stretches on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media post-match, a key member of La Roja’s defensive setup was therefore asked for his take on such struggles.

And, in his response, Barcelona’s Eric García provided an explanation which has since piqued widespread attentions:

“This is not an excuse, but playing at 3 pm is complicated,” the Blaugrana stopper began. “Because the pitch dries up too quickly.”

Conor Laird | GSFN