Spain coach suggests ditching extra time in last 16 and quarters

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente would welcome axing extra time for the Euros last 16 and quarter-finals in future, despite his side beating Germany in the last eight thanks to playing 30 minutes more.

Spain meet France in their Euro 2024 semi-final later on Tuesday and he feels his team would be fresher had they not had to play for 120 minutes against the hosts on Friday. Mikel Merino grabbed the Spain winner in a 2-1 success on 119 minutes.

Three of the four quarter-finals went to extra time, with two ending in penalty shoot-outs - France's win over Portugal and England prevailing over the Swiss. Wednesday's second semi-final is England against the Netherlands, who had the luxury of beating Turkey 2-1 in normal time.

"In a tournament like the Euros, which is so demanding, maybe extra time could be scrapped," De la Fuente told reporters in Munich, adding though that extra time should remain for the semi-finals and final.

Removing extra time and going straight to penalties in the first two knock-out rounds "would also help the show because the players would be much fresher and would approach the later rounds in a fresher state," the Spain coach added.

In the Copa América, extra time only occurs if needed at the final. In the previous rounds, if a match is level after normal time, it goes straight to a penalty shoot-out.