ANDspaa makes its debut this Thursday in the Final Four of the UEFA Nations League and does so in an atmosphere of new beginnings. After the departure of Luis Enrique after the World Cup in Qatar and the arrival of Luis de la Fuente (with a victory and a defeat in its debut in March), the national team faces this tournament with the aim of becoming champion and convincing the most skeptical.
Debut in the semifinals against Italy in Enschede and seek to get into the final in Rotterdam to face the winner of the Netherlands-Croatia. In all this cocktail, we give the reader five reasons to believe in this team… and five to doubt.
1. New generation
Luis de la Fuente has always made it clear that he does not marry anyone. The coach, as he well explained in his press conference, formed this call thinking exclusively of a tournament that can give you a title by winning two games. A list very marked by a new generation that can start to build something important for Euro 2024.
2. Rodri, the great leader
Other important names appear like Morata or Gavi. However, Rodri appears as the main reference in Spain after Rodri’s great season at Manchester City. If he manages to maintain his ‘citizen’ attitude, the team will be a leader for a while.
Rodri reveals how “Rodri’s on fire” was born: “It came about in five minutes, but it doesn’t make sense…”
3. Eagerness to silence critics
When a call comes up with so many new names, it is already a tradition that criticism arises from those anchored in the past and in the European and world champion Spain. Within the concentration of Spain they want to vindicate themselves in this UEFA Nations League and show that they are still a team capable of competing with anyone. Italy, Croatia and the Netherlands are not just any team.
4. Young people with experience
Despite the fact that debutants with Spain appear on this list, there is another group of young footballers with an important career and experience in big clubs in Europe. They know how to handle pressure in difficult moments. And this week in the Netherlands some of them may appear.
5. 180 minutes from a title
The format of the UEFA Nations League allows this group of footballers and the coach to come out more than reinforced. None of the participating teams is clearly superior to Spain, so the national team has a golden opportunity to lift another trophy 11 years later.
Five reasons to doubt:
1. latest results
It is a reality that the latest results have not convinced anyone. Neither the matches against Norway and Scotland in March nor the last participation in the World Cup (eliminated in the round of 16 against Morocco).
De la Fuente: “I always think it could be my last game”
2. The run-run with Luis de la Fuente
Despite the fact that the coach has publicly stated that he has and feels the support of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the atmosphere of doubt about his project is there. A defeat against Italy this Thursday would not calm the waters and also falling in the match for Third and Fourth place would set off all the alarms in the Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas.
3. Without a clear eleven
The clashes against Norway and Scotland, the changes that De la Fuente made to them and the list for this tournament with many new faces make it clear that Spain’s eleven is not defined.
4. Absences
This list has also been marked by absences. First after the withdrawal of Sergio Busquets, a fundamental pillar of the national team. And second for injuries. Pedri announced that he would not participate in the tournament thinking about his physical health and to face 2024 with guarantees with many challenges at the club and national team level, various players such as David García, Nico Williams, Bernat…
Pedri will not play the UEFA Nations League with Spain
5. Little margin for Euro 2024
Nobody also forgets that we are less than a year away from the Euro Cup in Germany in 2024. 12 months to consolidate a project and lay the foundations of a team capable of fighting again for a Euro Cup. The next call will be already in September. Everything begins to build this Thursday.
