Spain resolved its penultimate warm-up round before starting the Euro Cup on Saturday, June 15 against Croatia with the expected comfort, but with a new mystery for Luis de la Fuente, perhaps unforeseen just two days before the limit to set the final list of the teams. 26 footballers with whom he will play the tournament. Ayoze, the last to arrive, debutant at 30 years old, does not want to be the first to leave. He also wants to fly to Germany, and he insisted on proclaiming it with agitation, goals, assists and chances. The coach has a few hours left before announcing the three discards, the day before the last friendly before the Euro Cup, on Saturday in Mallorca against Northern Ireland (9:30 p.m., La1).
5
David Raya, Daniel Vivian, Pau Cubarsí, Marcos Llorente (Jesús Navas, min. 45), Grimaldo (Cucurella, min. 45), Pedri (Fermín López, min. 61), Álex Baena, Aleix García (Martín Zubimendi, min. 67), Ayoze Pérez, Morata (Oyarzabal, min. 45) and Ferrán Torres
0
Iker Álvarez (Josep Gómes, min. 61), Ian Olivera, San Nicolás, Marc García (Dacu, min. 79), Christian García, Max Llovera, Joel Guillén, Éric Vales, Joan Cervós, Jesus Rubio (Ludovic Clemente, min. 79) and Cuckoo
Goals 1-0 min. 24: Ayoze Pérez. 2-0 min. 52: Oyarzabal. 3-0 min. 66: Oyarzabal. 4-0 min. 72: Oyarzabal. 5-0 min. 80: Ferrán Torres.
Referee Gustavo Correia
Until that unexpected appearance of the Betic attacker, what was planned happened, a kind of drill in the middle of the field, an endless handball attack from Spain around an Andorra huddled together in solidarity. It was an extreme version of one of the worst nightmares that has caused great anguish in the exquisite realm of touch. Also a lowered version, for example, of the tremendous Morocco from the Qatar World Cup.
For long stretches, there was half left over at the end of which David Raya’s goal stood. The Pyrenean team barely felt the ball, which they saw coming and going from side to side, exploring the mountain range they had raised. The agreement on the plan that had led them to Badajoz was such that Andorra showed a certain vertigo when they recovered the ball: one of the first times it was resolved by Max Llovera shooting almost from the center of the field. The pitch arrived already asleep in Raya’s hands. The adventures of Llovera, who plays in Tercera RFEF at the San Cristóbal Parish Center, in Terrasa, are similar to those of the rest of the players from the Spanish rival. The contrast between both paintings explains what happened in the Nuevo Vivero, which started off dull when the previous anthems were not even played due to problems with the public address system.
The match was what Luis de la Fuente had suggested the previous afternoon, a somewhat sophisticated exercise to reactivate the legs of a platoon of tired footballers. Or Pedri’s, less consumed but further from what he had promised his talent in the previous Euro Cup, something that De la Fuente hopes to recover. Against Andorra he enjoyed a few minutes designed to suit him, with increasing intensity, of controlled demand. Because Spain began playing at pace at a speed at which the rival neither got disordered nor tired.
The only rebel was Ayoze, perhaps one of the three destined to stay on the ground. The Betis attacker moved at much higher revolutions than the rest. Like in another game. At the beginning he seemed the only one of the Spaniards who imagined there might be something promising behind the crowded Andorran defense. He reminded others how dangerous filtered passes are, and also that when the baseline is reached, a world opens up for teammates in the area. He convinced Grimaldo to liven up the left wing and the first sparks appeared there.
Although the definitive spark came from the other side, when Cubarsi headed down a corner, the Canary Islander controlled it by turning around and found the net before completing his first half hour in the national team shirt. He was determined that the night, if it was his last, would at least be memorable.
Time passed and Andorra became diluted. Resistance cannot be perpetual. Spaces began to open up, La Roja also began to open them, which was already giving more speed to the ball. Previously congested areas were cleared and even Spain was seen running through them. Pedri reached the baseline, crossed to the left, Baena jumped over the pass, De la Fuente became desperate, who stopped looking at the play, and the delivery ended up in Ayoze, again Ayoze, who assisted Oyarzabal in the 2- 0. The Betis attacker then scored a volley after another cross from Pedri, but the Real striker’s moment had opened.
Oyarzabal completed a hat trick by first pushing a gift from Ferran Torres and then clearing a small commotion in the area after a failed shot by Fermín, another debutant, who assisted Ferran in the fifth. Drill completed. Next stop, Northern Ireland. Then, Germany, where Ayoze intends to sneak in.
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