2023-06-15 00:58:08
Only 189 days have elapsed since Luis de la Fuente was named Spain coach to replace Luis Enrique and the La Rioja player is already facing a match-ball match against him. The defeat against Scotland on March 28 at Hampden Park has stirred the hornet’s nest around the coach of a team that left more doubts than certainties in their first two games in the qualifying phase for the Eurocup to be played next year in Germany.
Beating Italy this Thursday in the second semifinal of the League of Nations would strengthen Haro’s team and would mean a shot of self-esteem for La Roja, which seeks to shore up the changing of the guard after the debacle in the World Cup in Qatar against a rival that is also immersed in a rebuilding process, after missing their second consecutive World Cup.
«We are privileged to be here and to be able to win a title in two games. We are calm, responsible and with an illusion that is out of the ordinary », proclaimed Luis de la Fuente on the eve of a clash that he faces « as if it were the last », just as, he assures, he does with everyone. “It is a historic opportunity, we represent a country that is committed to us and we want to go down in history. I know what I have in my hands and that gives me some calm to deal only with what I can control, which is the daily work. The bickering does not take away a second from me », wielded a coach in the Dutch town of Enschede who contrasts his optimism with the premature drama that surrounds the selection.
That does not mean that De la Fuente is not aware of how much is at stake in this reissue of the semifinal that pitted Spain against Italy two years ago at the San Siro, when a brace from Ferran Torres ended the 37-game unbeaten streak. the ‘Azzurra’ and opened the doors to a final in which France ended up defeating the troops led by Luis Enrique with a controversial goal from Mbappé.
La Roja hasn’t touched metal for eleven years, precisely since they massacred Italy in Kiev in an unforgettable stake that put the finishing touch to an unparalleled cycle in which Spain won two European Championships and a World Cup consecutively. Greening up laurels, even in a tournament of less substance than those around which national team football orbits, would calm the waters, grant peace of mind when establishing a project that is still going through its embryonic phase and would be an accolade for a coach which, after betting in March on a profound remodeling of the block that derailed in Qatar, this time drew up a list thought more about immediate performance than long-term development.
The return of Unai Simón, who was sidelined by injury from the duels against Norway and Scotland, ignites the debate under the sticks, although it is most likely that Kepa will keep the gloves against Italy. The nationalization of Le Normand gives Spain a new defensive bastion and everything points to the fact that the Real Sociedad center-back will have his come-out this Thursday, possibly making a pair with Nacho, given that Laporte is dragging the fatigue left by the celebrations of the Champions League won on Saturday with Manchester City. Jordi Alba, another who returns after missing the previous window, will wear the captain’s armband in a team in which Asensio can break through to threaten his future teammate Donnarumma from the front.
Goal with an Argentine accent
The PSG goalkeeper is one of the pillars to which Roberto Mancini is entrusted to try to revive an Italy whose lack of definition has led it in recent times to give one of lime and another of sand. Champion of the last European Championship, she crashed in the qualifying phase for the World Cup in Qatar and intensified the debate about his lack of rennet. The main novelty regarding this aborted transition to the World Cup has been the incorporation of Mateo Retegui, a lanky striker born 24 years ago in Argentina, a country to which one of his great-grandparents emigrated from Sicily at the end of the Second World War.
Belonging to Boca Juniors, although on loan to Tigre, he was one of Italy’s biggest names in the March break, scoring both in the 1-2 home defeat against England and in the 2-0 away win over Malta. The punch of ‘Retegol’ and the inertia of footballers like Acerbi, Dimarco or Barella who have just played the Champions League final with Inter will be points to be taken into account by a Spain that will need to offer the best side of it.
-Probable alignments:
Spain: Kepa, Carvajal, Le Normand, Nacho, Jordi Alba, Rodri, Mikel Merino, Rodrigo Moreno, Asensio, Gavi and Morata.
Italy: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Acerbi, Bonucci, Dimarco, Barella, Jorginho, Verratti, Chiesa, Retegui y Pellegrini.
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).
Time: 8:45 p.m.
Stadium: FC Twente Stadium.
TV: At 1.
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