´What a pass!´ – Pique hails Iniesta quality

Gerard Pique paid tribute to the quality of Andres Iniesta after his club and international team-mate set up his winning goal for Spain against Czech Republic.

The defending champions opened their Euro 2016 campaign with a 1-0 victory on Monday after the Barcelona centre-back scored his first goal at a major tournament with three minutes remaining.

Pique rose to head in a floating pass from Iniesta, who was named man of the match after a display that saw him create five chances and make a match-leading 77 passes in the opposition half.

The 29-year-old felt Spain had managed the game superbly and praised their refusal to get frustrated despite the long wait to find a winner.

“What a pass – what quality Iniesta has,” Pique said to Telecinco. “I was lucky to score, but the whole team were phenomenal.

3 – Andrés Iniesta is the only #ESP player to assist in three different editions of the #EURO (4 assists). Show.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) June 13, 2016

“I think we played extremely well, we controlled the game very well, but the ball would not go in.

“We didn’t lose our cool. We tried to attack with order and make the pitch as big as possible. We created many chances until we reached their goal.

“We wanted to win and knew it was very important to start by picking up all three points.”

Spain are back in action against Turkey on Friday as they continue their pursuit of an unprecedented third consecutive continental title.