Lisbon (AFP)
Portugal, the champions of the 2019 edition of the European Nations League in football, has the advantage of grabbing the qualification to the semi-finals at the expense of Spain, as it plays at its home, and only needs a draw, when the two Iberian neighbors meet face to face in Braga “Tuesday”.
Spain lost the top of Group B, in the last round, by losing at home to Switzerland 1-2, its first at home since 2018, after a series of 22 unbeaten matches, while Portugal beat the Czech Republic by four clean to lead the star Cristiano Ronaldo battalion in the group With 10 points, two points behind Spain.
Spain coach Luis Enrique confirmed that his team has no alternative but to win, and said in this regard to the UEFA website: It will be difficult to win at the opponent’s land, but a draw does not help us, we will try to collect the three points.
To win, Enrique must include an outspoken striker, unlike what he did against Switzerland, and Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata and Barcelona striker Ferran Torres are expected to participate.
La Roja suffers from the absence of a real scorer, similar to David Villa, the top scorer in the 2008 European Cup and the 2010 World Cup, equally with other players, and similar to Fernando Torres, the top scorer in the 2012 European Cup.
After that, successive coaches in Spain tried to find the expected scorer, so they tried with Diego Costa without the latter being able to impose himself, and his team came out of the first round of the World Cup in Brazil, dragging the tails of defeat.
Enrique’s decision came as a surprise when Iago Aspas excluded the best Spanish scorer in the league four times in the last 6 seasons, and did not call Ansu Fati, but in return, he called up Betis Seville striker Borja Iglesias, who scored 6 goals in 6 matches in the domestic league this season.
Iglesias has a strong physique (189 cm and 86 kg), and commenting on his first call-up to the ranks of «La Roja»: I had previously taken exams, and I was more nervous than I was called to the national team, here I enjoy, it is an opportunity for me to give what I have for the national team .
He added: We will see what happens in the future. The road to the World Cup is still long. I will do my best to enhance my chances of being in Qatar.
Enrique is also in the process of resting the young Barcelona players Pedro and Jaffe, after they have played many matches since the beginning of the current season, to give the opportunity to Rodri and Koke from Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, respectively.
Enrique criticized his team after the loss to Switzerland, saying: We were not only bad, but much worse, noting that the team played the worst first half of my era.
The Spanish national team reached the final of the last edition of the Nations League in the fall of last year, before losing with difficulty to its French counterpart, and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in the summer of 2021 as well, before losing to Italy.
Spain has a good record in the face of its neighbor, as it outperformed it 17 times in 39 matches between them, compared to 6 victories for Portugal.
The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw in Spain, noting that the last five matches between the two teams ended in a draw.
The final round will be held next June, and Croatia and the Netherlands have qualified so far for the first level, while Hungary is competing with Italy for a third card.
#Portugal #Spain #war #square