Spain suffered in Hampden Park the first scolding of the recently launched De la Fuente era. Victim of large-caliber errors from the two right-backs that he used in the place where national team football was born, La Roja succumbed to Scotland with a double from McTominay, author of four goals in the first two days of the qualifying phase for the Eurocup in Germany, and endorsed that the lack of forcefulness in the areas and poise continue to be his pending subjects, as was the case with Luis Enrique.
The ‘Tartan Army’, as rocky as it was effective, was a toothache for a team without rennet that needed to develop automatisms, but that was harmed by the distribution of efforts and surely also by Luis de la Fuente’s desire to please everyone and add as many soldiers as possible to the cause.
The Riojan rotated massively in Comanche territory and Spain lost its way. Hitting so many keys at the same time risks the computer crashing. It happened at Hampden Park. It is true that it is too early for the alarms to sound and that Norway’s draw against Georgia alleviates the bad taste, but a reset is convenient and that Haro’s man takes note.
Scotland
Gunn, Hickey (Patterson, min. 82), Porteous, Hanley, Tierney (Cooper, min. 74), Robertson, Christie (McLean, min. 74), McGregor, McTominay, McGinn (Ferguson, min. 82) and Dykes ( Shankland, min 89).
2
–
0
Spain
Kepa, Pedro Porro (Carvajal, min. 46), David García, Iñigo Martínez, Gayà, Rodri, Merino (Iago Aspas, min. 57), Yéremy Pino, Ceballos (Gavi, min. 78), Oyarzabal (Nico Williams, min. 46) and Joselu (Borja Iglesias, min. 66).
-
Goals:
1-0: min. 7, McTominay. 2-0: min. 51, McTominay. -
Referee:
Sandro Schärer (Switzerland). He booked Robertson, Dykes, Carvajal, Gunn, Iago Aspas and McTominay. -
Incidents:
Match corresponding to Group A of the qualifying phase for the 2024 Euro Cup, played at the Hampden Park stadium in front of 50,000 spectators.
De la Fuente entered eight variants with respect to the eleven that Norway faced at the beginning. He kept Kepa under the sticks, but completely remodeled the defense, where he took the alternative of David García from Navarra to establish a duo with Iñigo Martínez and try to balance the powerful physique of the Scots. He kept Rodri and Mikel Merino as pivots, but rewarded the good performance of Yéremy Pino, Ceballos and Oyarzabal in Málaga, placing them behind Joselu.
De la Fuente accepted that direct play would play a leading role in one of the great temples of British football, but what he did not count on was the poor staging of his squad, which was immediately penalized. A slip by Pedro Porro led to a steal by Robertson, who spotted McTominay’s arrival from the second row so that the Manchester United midfielder, author of a double last Saturday against Cyprus, extended the streak by executing Kepa after the ball touched in Iñigo Martínez and mislead the one from Ondárroa.
Steve Clarke’s team, a former right-back who made a career at Chelsea for eleven seasons before beginning a long career on the bench that led him to be an assistant to Bobby Robson, Ruud Gullit, José Mourinho and Rafa Benítez, among others, He had clear concepts and, driven by his fervent fans, he went straight for the jugular of his adversary.
Against Norway, Spain had the wind in favor, but the clash in Glasgow was born from the bottom and posed a test of maturity to a monochrome Red who had a hard time taking the temperature of the lawsuit. A header from Joselu to Gayá’s center with a block from Gunn was the first act of rebellion by a team that pursued the bombardment by bands. The crossbar prevented Joselu’s second projectile, activated again from the left flank, from detonating in the Scottish net. Rodrigo also threatened by taking out the pole and Pedro Porro by land, without luck.
tender and blunt
The uneven and tall lawn’s expertise frowned on the visitors, whose siege made no dent in a monolithic Scotland. The British cooled the arreón with physicality and trade, also in the underground game. Joselu had a hard time with the central defenders and cried out to the referee in the desert, home before being relieved due to injury in the intermission. That the scenario was hard-legged did not go along and Spain was forced to take risks, which sowed spaces for the ‘Tartan Army’ to threaten the counter. Dykes had the second on the brink of the break, but he arched the shot too wide.
De la Fuente reformulated the right wing after the intermission with the entry of Carvajal for Pedro Porro and Nico Williams for Oyarzabal, which displaced Yéremy Pino to the other side. But that is precisely where Spain made water again. Carvajal lost the hand to Tierney and McTominey again found a free track to deliver the rapier.
De la Fuente upped the ante by sacrificing Mikel Merino to increase the offensive battalion with the entry of Iago Aspas, although the crossbar prevented Scotland’s third. The man from La Rioja burned his last ships, winding up Borja Iglesias and Gavi to the detriment of a corseted Joselu who, despite everything, was once again La Roja’s main threat, and a much more subdued Ceballos than in La Rosaleda, but Spain, Roma at the forefront and flat at the rear, they gave in to the descendants of William Wallace, group leaders and more facts than an indefinite Spain that they defeated again more than 38 years later.
#Spain #brave #heart
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