In the list published this Friday by Luis de la Fuente for the last two qualifying matches for Euro 2024 – Thursday against Cyprus and Sunday against Georgia – one of the usual names was missing, the stable partner of Robin Le Normand in the center of defense. Despite his move to Saudi Arabia to play for Al-Nassr with Cristiano Ronaldo, and the initial fears about the competitive level of that league, Aymerich Laporte was part of those called for the last break, when the transfer to the European Championship was closed. . And he remains at the heart of the group that De la Fuente has been putting together for a year and a half. Only a domestic mishap has kept him out this time: he stepped on something sharp barefoot in his house and the wound on the sole of his foot required several stitches. “If this had been a European Championship final…” the coach said this Friday.
🚨 LAST CALL FOR 2023!!
These are the 2⃣5⃣ footballers chosen by Luis de la Fuente and his coaching staff for the upcoming matches against Cyprus and Georgia in the Qualifying Phase for the #EURO2024.
💪🏻 We want to close the year with two more victories!!#VamosSpain pic.twitter.com/tLuYbxC3xM
— Spanish Men’s Soccer Team (@SEFutbol) November 10, 2023
The center back is an essential part of the skeleton that De la Fuente has already formed very clearly for the European Championship in Germany, when there are still seven months left until the opening match of the tournament. “And I think that’s good news,” she explained. “If I sit down in front of you today and tell you: ‘Joé, I have more doubts than…’. Well, it’s not like that. Fortunately, I think we already have a very formed block. Surely due to football circumstances there will be casualties, situations that make you make other types of decisions, but what the block is, I think we have it formed.”
And by tracing the composition of the lists of players that he has been using since he took office after the World Cup in Qatar, it is possible to guess a good part of the composition of the group with which he plans to compete in Germany, which UEFA has not yet decided if It will be 23 or 25 footballers.
His goalkeepers have been Unai Simón, David Raya and Kepa Arrizabalaga, although for next week he has called up the realistic Álex Remiro due to the injury that the Madrid goalkeeper suffered on Wednesday. The most stable center backs have been Laporte, Le Normand, David García and Pau Torres. The full-backs, Carvajal and Navas on the right and Balde and Gayà on the left.
In the midfield, Rodri, Gavi, Merino, Zubimendi, Fabián Ruiz and Pedri, although the Canarian has just returned from a long injury and this time he has not been called up either, so that he can take his recovery more calmly. With Laporte, the Barça player has been one of the few absentees that De la Fuente has had no problem talking about, always as an essential part of the group. And above, Morata, Joselu, Ferran Torres, Nico Williams, Yeremi Pino, Lamine Yamal and Marco Asensio, in the last stretch of an injury. These are the 24 players with whom the coach has shown the most confidence.
Although he has always had the door open for other players to enter the group, especially those he knew from his previous times in the lower categories, such as Oihan Sancet or Rodrigo Riquelme and Alejandro Grimaldo, who appeared this Friday for the first time on a list of the absolute. “Let everyone know that it is good for the national team and for Spanish football that coming to the national team has to be very demanding, and it is the line that we intend to set. The luck we have is that there are very good footballers, more than I will be able to take,” said the coach.
For now, the next stop before the tournament is next Thursday in Limassol against Cyprus (6:00 p.m., La1), and then on Sunday in Valladolid against Georgia (8:45 p.m., La1). None of these teams are now eligible to play in the European Championship, but Spain, although it is already classified, has at stake the first place in the group that would place it in pot 1 of the calendar draw on December 2 in Hamburg. It reaches this last section ahead of Scotland, although tied at 15 points. “We want to win both,” said De la Fuente.
Goalkeepers: Unai Simón (Athletic), David Raya (Arsenal) and Álex Remiro (Real Sociedad)
Defenses: Jesús Navas (Sevilla), Iñigo Martínez (Barcelona), Robin Le Normand (Real Sociedad), Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), David García (Osasuna), Pau Torres (Aston Villa) and Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid).
Midfielders: Rodri (Manchester City), Martín Zubimendi (Real Sociedad), Gavi (Barcelona), Fabián Ruiz (PSG), Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad), Oihan Sancet (Athletic), Rodrigo Riquelme (Atlético) and Aleix García (Girona).
Fronts: Álvaro Morata (Atlético), Joselu (Real Madrid), Nico Williams (Athletic), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad) and Lamine Yamal (Barcelona).
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