Vicente Del Bosque has sought to absolve David De Gea of any blame following Spain’s 2-1 defeat to Croatia.
La Roja entered their final fixture of Euro 2016’s Group D in a commanding position, needing only a draw to seal top spot.
Alvaro Morata gave Spain a first-half lead, but that was overturned in the second period via goals from Nikola Kalinic and Ivan Perisic.
For the second strike, De Gea was beaten at his near post, which is becoming a theme for the Manchester United star.
He was also criticised for attempting to stop the short with his feet, rather than hands – another common criticism levelled at De Gea.
The Red Devils’ No.1 endured other shaky moments against Croatia too, including being caught around 10 yards away from goal by an Ivan Rakitic lob, which struck the inside of the cross-bar.
However, De Gea’a manager is not willing to blame the shot-stopper, at least in public, stating that the entire team should bear the responsibility.
Del Bosque said, as reported by Gazzetta World: “We can’t blame De Gea for the goal. If we lose, we are all guilty.
“I don’t think we have to blame anyone specifically. We’ve lost, all of us have lost, we’re all to blame.”
“He didn’t have too much to do and we can’t blame him for the goals. The second was a counter attack the first was from close range,” the 65-year-old added.
On now facing Group E winners Italy in the Round of 16, the coach continued: “It wasn’t the path that we wanted to take, but that’s football. We controlled the game and we haven’t played badly today.”
De Gea experienced a memorable season for United, which began with a failed transfer saga with Real Madrid, which resulted in a new £200,000-per-week contract at Old Trafford.
He went on to reinforce his credentials as the club’s key player, keeping 15 clean sheets in the Premier League – a tally only Arsenal’s Petr Cech (16) could top.
His club form saw him displace Iker Casillas in the national team, though his selection ahead of the Madrid icon will now be questioned by fans ahead of the Italy tie.
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