Spain’s captain Alvaro Morata left the pitch following Spain’s 2024 European Championship semifinal win over France on Tuesday after a security guard fell into the footballer while they were chasing down a fan who had run onto the field.
Video taken from inside the stadium showed a supporter wearing a light blue jersey running toward the celebrating Spanish players, seemingly hoping to get a selfie before security grabbed a hold of the unruly them.
However, one security person slipped and fell right into Morata’s leg.
Morata, 31, was seen immediately grabbing his right leg and then limped and grimaced in apparent pain.
The security guard noticed Morata in pain and leaned over to check on him.
Spain’s coach Luis de la Fuente told reporters following the match that he hoped the former Chelsea striker would be ready for Sunday’s final against the winner of the England the Netherlands match.
De la Fuente added that the club would “wait until tomorrow” to find out more about Morata’s status,” The Guardian reported.
“We don’t think it was anything, it was during the celebrations but we think he’s going to be OK,” Spain’s coach said.
Spanish midfielder Rodri added that Morata was in pain in the dressing room after, however, he still felt that the striker should be “fine,” The Athletic reported.
There’s been plenty of criticism toward UEFA over the security at this year’s Euro tournament after a number of pitch invaders have managed to create havoc, including an incident where seven fans made it onto the field during Portugal’s win over Turkey.
There had also been a moment earlier in Tuesday’s match where a fan was stopped while trying to storm the field to take a selfie with French superstar Kylian Mbappe.
The potential tough break for Morata comes after he’s faced intense criticism from Spanish media, including an article from El Confidencial with the headline “Morata, a captain who embarrasses Spain and not only because of his poor form at the Euros,” The Daily Mail reported.
The article said Morata “does not represent Spain” and that he is a “crybaby.”
Morata’s wife, Alice Campello, fired back in a post on social media ahead of Tuesday’s win over France that all the article was doing was creating “more hatred.”
“’The only thing I see as poor quality is being a journalist, having studied for it and writing a headline like this when Spain is one day away from playing a semi-final,” she wrote in an Instagram story.
“It amazes me that instead of encouraging a player you dedicate yourselves to trying to sink him… How do you think a person can give the maximum for his country when he feels that no one believes in him? What do you want to achieve with the headline? Generate more hatred towards a person?”
