Before going on vacation, Spain faced off a month of June with four games of the UEFA Nations League. The always controversial call-up from Luis Enrique brought up some surprises like Asensio or Ansu Fati, apart from the most usual players.
The first game against Portugal ended up on a draw. Morata scored in the 25th minute after a good start from the Spanish national team. Scoring chances for Luis Enrique’s team did not stop coming until halftime, but they slowed down after the break until conceding the final draw.
The start of the second game was horrible. Czech Republic scored the first goal before the 4th minute by taking advantage from a defensive mistake. However, before the end of the first half, Gavi made the equalizer after a quick shot that was unstoppable for the keeper. With this goal, Gavi became the youngest player to score with the national team (17 years and 304 days old) and overcame his teammate Ansu Fati.
Spain had several scoring chances after the break, but Kuchta took advantaage of a mistake from Eric García in the 66th minute to put the Czech Republic ahead in the scoreboard. It was not until the last minute after a header by Íñigo Martínez that Spain was able to score in order to rescue its second point in two games.
Victories came for Spain:
Spain manages to perform the right way offensively, but they waste it all with multiple defensive mistakes. Once again, they showed verticality against Switzerland, as Marcos Llorente found Sarabia to score the final 1-0. They managed to secure the short lead, but certainly there were some approaches from the Swiss national team. First win in this competition.
Before vacation, there was the second leg of the game against Czech Republic. Spain started the right way, but the rival managed to turn it over. Unai Simón had to make some saves and precisely when they were suffering the most, they found the net. Marco Asensio found the back of Jemelka and Carlos Soler took advantage of his run between the central defenders in order to put Spain ahead on the scoreboard.
Spain improved as time passed by, as they became solid defensively and had several scoring chances. They were finally able to put the game away in the 75th minute, when Sarabia, who had just entered the field, grabbed a repel from the keeper in order to send it in. 2-0 and a better image in front of the euphoric crowd of La Rosaleda.
In general, the team is able to find verticality forward with a lot of presence of the midfielders in the opposite half. The worst times are when the game gets static and the rival takes advantage of mistakes on defense, which is something to work on towards the World Cup.
Before Qatar there will be an extra two games from the Nations League against Switzerland and Portugal in order to aim for the top of the table and the next round of the competition.
Translated by Guillermo Bermejo.
Main image: Twitter @SeFutbol.
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