Verified source report
Merino puts Spain into World Cup semi-finals as Belgium rue costly Courtois injury
Mikel Merino’s amazing moment arrived once more, an entire country circling the corner flag with him as football, which somehow always finds a way, provided another absurdly tall tale. The man who came on to score the late, late goals that took Spain into a European championship semi-final two years ago and a World Cup quarter-final four days ago, only went and did it again. And this time it was even better, his two-month old son Marco, who he has hardly seen, in attendance here. “As he wasn’t there for the quarter-finals, I had to do it in the semi-final too so he could experience it as well,” Merino said. It is some experience, some hat-trick, some story. What Merino did doesn’t make any sense. For this to happen once is dramatic enough, for it to happen twice messes with your mind, for it to happen a third blows it to bits; what is this sorcery? It was 1-1, the seconds were slipping f
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Mikel Merino’s amazing moment arrived once more, an entire country circling the corner flag with him as football, which somehow always finds a way, provided another absurdly tall tale. The man who came on to score the late, late goals that took Spain into a European championship semi-final two years ago and a World Cup quarter-final four days ago, only went and did it again. And this time it was even better, his two-month old son Marco, who he has hardly seen, in attendance here. “As he wasn’t there for the quarter-finals, I had to do it in the semi-final too so he could experience it as well,” Merino said. It is some experience, some hat-trick, some story. What Merino did doesn’t make any sense. For this to happen once is dramatic enough, for it to happen twice messes with your mind, for it to happen a third blows it to bits; what is this sorcery? It was 1-1, the seconds were slipping f
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According to The Guardian’s linked source, Merino puts Spain into World Cup semi-finals as Belgium rue costly Courtois injury, Mikel Merino’s amazing moment arrived once more, an entire country circling the corner flag with him as football, which somehow always finds a way, provided another absurdly tall tale. The man who came on to score the late, late goals that took Spain into a European championship semi-final two years ago and a World Cup quarter-final four days ago, only went and did it again. And this time it was even better, his two-month old son Marco, who he has hardly seen, in attendance here. “As he wasn’t there for the quarter-finals, I had to do it in the semi-final too so he could experience it as well,” Merino said. It is some experience, some hat-trick, some story. What Merino did doesn’t make any sense. For this to happen once is dramatic enough, for it to happen twice messes with your mind, for it to happen a third blows it to bits; what is this sorcery? It was 1-1, the seconds were slipping f
Context
The development sits in VINI’s Technology coverage for readers following technology, science, product policy, markets, infrastructure, and the public consequences of innovation. The original report is linked so readers can check the publisher account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The original item is dated 2026-07-10T21:13:02+00:00.
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Source
Primary source: Merino puts Spain into World Cup semi-finals as Belgium rue costly Courtois injury via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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- Merino puts Spain into World Cup semi-finals as Belgium rue costly Courtois injuryThe Guardian - 2026-07-10T21:13:02+00:00
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