Spain has moved on to the UEFA Euro 2024 final, but a bizarre postgame incident might impact whether Álvaro Morata will be available to play a part.
The striker was hit by a tumbling security guard, who was sprinting in to stop a fan from taking selfies as Spain did a victory lap following its 2-1 victory over France.
Morata had no idea what was coming as the security staffer careened into him while trying to stop and turn. Adding to the strangeness of the situation, stewards at the Allianz Arena had already managed to grab the young selfie-taker.
The Atlético Madrid striker, who has started all but one of Spain’s matches in the tournament, immediately felt for his right knee, wincing and then limping away from the kerfuffle. The security person leaned in to check on the Spain captain, who seemed to simply want to hobble away from the entire situation.
In a post-match press conference, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente told reporters that Morata’s status at this point was unknown.
“We have to wait and see tomorrow,” said De la Fuente. “We believe it’s nothing. It hurts, but we think it’s nothing.”
Should Morata be unavailable, De la Fuente would likely be choosing between Mikel Oyarzabal (who replaced Morata in the 76th minute on Tuesday) or Joselu to lead the line in the final, which is on Sunday against either England or the Netherlands.
This isn’t even the first such incident involving an Iberian forward at this tournament. Portugal striker Gonçalo Ramos ended up having a steward crash into him after a 3-0 win over Turkey on June 22.