Spain held by resilient Belarus

Spain 1-1 Belarus
Spain and Belarus prepared for this summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals with a 1-1 draw in Alcalá de Henares, Dmitri Rekish cancelling out Daniel Parejo's second-half free-kick.

After a largely disappointing first half, La Roja – inspired by substitutes Thiago Alcántara and Iker Muniain – finally broke down their stubborn opponents with Parejo's well-aimed set piece in the 68th minute. The visitors rallied, however, and showed their threat on the counterattack with Rekish drilling in the equaliser from close range.

Despite Spain's dominance in the first half, it was Belarus who carved the best opening inside half an hour with menacing FC BATE Borisov forward Maksim Skavysh stealing in from the right before driving low past David de Gea's far post. Luis Milla's side continued to seek an elusive opening thereafter and they might have edged ahead had Bojan Krkić managed to fully connect with Adrían's flick.

The game opened up after the restart and Georgi Kondratyev's side were close to going ahead when Skavysh set up Oleg Veretilo, whose powerful shot was well beaten out by De Gea. The hosts hit the front soon after, though, with Parejo taking advantage after Diego Capel was tripped on the edge of the Belarus area.

Yet the goal sparked the visitors into life and they were on terms with 15 minutes to go, Rekish finishing from close range after Denis Polyakov's shot had been stopped on the line.