体坛英语新闻：Morata scores twice to drive Spain past Turkey 3-0 with knockout berth

NICE, France, June 17 (Xinhua) -- New recruits Alvaro Morata and Nolito collected three goals to help defending champion Spain whitewash Turkey 3-0 here on Friday night and advance to the knockout stage of EURO 2016 following host France and Italy.

Morata, the 23-year-old Juventus forward, opened the scoring in the 34th minute when Spain were looking for a scorer to break the ice. Morata ran into the perfect space in the box and glanced the header into the right corner.

Just after three minutes, Celta forward Nolito caught a looping ball switched off by a Turkish defender and scored with a close-range shot.

In the 48th minute, a brilliant team work between Jordi Alba and Andres Iniesta gave Morata the chance to fire into an empty net.

So far, Morata was the only player scoring more than once in a single match of the EURO 2016, and 3-0 was the biggest goal difference of the matches played.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said, "It is difficult to compare the current team to the team in 2012. And I don't think that's important. This is a work of a lot of people. We are very happy to share and live this moment in football."

"Now, I am thinking about the next game. We'll try to get three points against Croatia, " he added.

Not Morata, the Man of the Match was Iniesta who made majestic performance in midfield. He completed 93 passes, 40 of them coming in the final third. He also created three chances for his team-mates.

It was no surprise for Iniesta to be the second Man of the Match award in a row following French midfielder Dirmitri Payet. His through ball to Alba for the third goal was world class as he maintained his exceptionally high standards against Turkey.

Iniesta said, "After the 2014 World Cup, we were responsible for the team to keep positive, keep going. It depends on ourselves. I will try my best."

Turkey captain Arda Turan was booed by Turkish fans after 3-0 for an incredible move. The Barcelona midfielder, Iniesta's club team-mate, squandered a clear counter-attacking chance by keeping the ball in the midfield without any dribbling nor passing. From then on, Turan was booed whenever he touched the ball.

Iniesta said, "It's a difficult situation for a player to experience whistle from own fans. I know he's a player with great talent and quality. I told him I wish him the best."

Spain maintained a 52-year unbeaten run against Turkey. Vicente del Bosque's men won both meetings in 2010 World Cup qualifying. Turkey's lone victory was a 1-0 win in 1954 World Cup qualifying.

Spain struggled against the stern Czech Republic defense in their EURO 2016 Group D opener but found no such troubles on Friday. It was a comfortable evening for the reigning champions.

Turkey coach Faith Terim said, "In my private life I never give up. But tonight my team threw the towel. I never accept this."

"Some of our players were not playing well but I should be the one being criticized because I'm the one who called them up," said Terim. "I hope the fans will support us through the last match."

The statistics showed that Spain dominated the game with 57 percent ball possession, 18 attempts, 8 on targets and 619 passes completed. Turkey only made 8 attempts, none on target and completed 359 passes.