Spain finish Nations League groups with late late show against Switzerland
11/18/2024 05:01 PM
Spain 3-2 Switzerland
Spain finished out group 4 in League A of the UEFA Nations League with a fifth win out of six in Tenerife, as the Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez was treated to five goals. La Roja have qualified for the quarter-finals as top seeds.
The game saw Luis de la Fuente rotate his entire team from their win over Denmark, and handed debuts to Samu Omorodion and Aitor Paredes, as well as a rare start for Alex Remiro in goal. Spain dominated early on, without necessarily creating much more than half-chances for Alvaro Morata and Nico Williams.
The former broke the game open though after a lovely ball from Oscar Mingueza, making his first start, got him behind the defence. Morata lifted it over the defender and cut into the box, before being clattered from behind. He was set to take the penalty, but after chants from the crowd, unselfishly handed the ball to Pedri – who saw Yvon Mvogo save down to his right. Fortunately for Pedri, Spain took a lead into the break, after Williams' effort was blocked on the line, and Yeremy Pino followed up to finish from an angle.
Pedri and Marc Casado both went down in pain at points, but carried on, in Pedri's case until he was subbed off for Pablo Barrios, who also made his senior debut. Switzerland struggled to threaten much, but saw the door open when Joel Monteiro robbed Paredes, and flashed his one-on-one, now against Robert Sanchez in goal, wide. Encouraged, not long after he beat Alejandro Grimaldo, then Paredes in the box, and smuggled the ball between Sanchez's legs from the by-line for an unexpected equaliser.
Este tío tenía 𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗢 𝗗𝗨𝗗𝗔𝗦 de que iba a enchufar el penalti en el minuto 93 para darle la victoria a España.
¡¡Aquí se banca mucho a @brryann11!!#VamosEspaña | #NationsLeaguepic.twitter.com/njgRXqiF16
— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) November 18, 2024
La Roja responded quickly through Bryan Gil though, who off the bench was the sharpest in the box to rescue a loose ball, and fire home effectively for his first international goal. On the other side, Bryan Zaragoza was causing havoc every time he got the ball, but with five minutes to go, caused issues without it. He stuck out a leg in his own box, and Andi Zeqiri sent Sanchez the wrong way to level again.
Zaragoza's crossing and dribbling was causing problems though, and too his credit, he forced the issue in stoppage time. Once again far too fast for Swiss defenders, he earned his own penalty, brought down in the 93rd minute. It was Zaragoza who finished it too, snatching the victory back for La Roja.
While Paredes struggled at times, and Spain were wasteful and loose at points, it was a largely dominant performance from de la Fuente's side once more. In particular, the likes of Casado, Mingueza and Zaragoza looked right at home on the international stage, and reinforced the idea that Spain have plenty of depth to call on.
The post Spain finish Nations League groups with late late show against Switzerland appeared first on Football España.
