The coach Luis de la Fuente gave instructions, corrected positions and took good note of the performance of all his pupils on the Nuevo Vivero de Badajoz side. More than a friendly, the match against Andorra was a test, a kind of selectivity for many Spanish footballers who hope not to be one of the three discarded for the European Championship on Friday. As expected, given the difference between both sets, the Red They thrashed the Principality’s team (5-0), 164th in the FIFA ranking. A preparation test preceded by silence, since the anthems were not played due to a failure in the public address system, where debutants Ayoze and Fermín stood out along with Oyarzabal, author of a hat trick .
Without the Madrid players Carvajal, Nacho and Joselu and also with the absences of Laporte, Olmo and Rodri, the eleven that De la Fuente had in the Extremaduran field was very experimental and very little similarity with the one that, a priori, the Spanish team will debut in the continental tournament on June 15 against Croatia.
This is Spain, especially young, still a team in search of new references to join the cause. Up to 14 of those called up have never played in a major tournament with the national team. In the thirteenth game of the De la Fuente era, Morata continued to be the spearhead in attack and Pedri, hampered by injuries, is expected to lead the midfield alongside Rodri.
The duel against the Andorrans was the last test before De la Fuente decides to discard
The match scenario was as expected. Andorra gave up the ball and waited in retreat, with a line of five and another of four, against a Spain that began amassing possession slowly, with very slow circulation. Koldo Álvarez’s men were comfortable at the beginning of the duel, without regretting any cracks in their defense. Only Ayoze threatened with an unmarking or a dribble.
The Betis player found the reward for his insistence after a corner with the goal that opened the rival wall. Cubarsí, who was making his debut as a starter, lowered the ball with his head, and the forward, after a great reverse, shot Iker Álvarez. It did not spur the the Red , which continued without the brilliance to flow in attack. It seemed that Morata achieved the second, after a good pass from Pedri, but he was offside. Andorra even dared to explore beyond the center of the field and, after a loss by Aleix García, tested Raya with a shot from Cucu. A little more before the break.
For the resumption, De la Fuente introduced four changes, among them Oyarzabal who was close to opening his scoring record with a header that went over the crossbar. The Basque forward did manage to score just a few minutes later after a good team play. Pedri and Aleix García created a great wall, Baena let it pass and Ayoze crossed for the Real Sociedad player, who finished into the net in the small area.
By then, Spain was already more dynamic and damaging in each of its attacks thanks, in large part, to Pedri’s improvement. The Canarian left the field at the hour mark, but just before that he gave a great cross to Ayoze who saw how Christian García scored the goal over the line.
The debutants Ayoze and Fermín were among the best along with Oyarzabal, author of a hat-trick
Pedri left his place to his Blaugrana teammate Fermín. The one from El Campillo, always plugged in, without negotiating any effort, soon left his mark with a great pass to Ferran, in one of the few transitions, which ended in the second goal, at will, by Oyarzabal. Now, with spaces, the party was complete in Badajoz. The cheers of the respectable one followed one another with the occasions.
Once again, Fermín appeared in the area, cut in on his pair, but bit a ball that ended up in the goal. hat trick from Oyarzabal. As he has already done this season at Barça, the Huelva native continued to break ground. He does not want to be one of the discards and added more points to be in the Euro Cup with the assistance of the fifth goal scored by Ferran Torres, the first goal from Foios since January. He was still able to score Oyarzabal’s fourth and Le Normand also came close to scoring.
In the end, a little hand that serves to gain confidence in Spain and put De la Fuente in trouble when choosing the 26 who will travel to Germany. Last Saturday test against Northern Ireland before flying to Berlin.
Data sheet:
Spain, 5 – Andorra, 0
Spain: David Raya, Marcos Llorente (Jesús Navas, m.46), Vivian, Cubarsí (Le Normand, m.46), Grimaldo (Cucurella, m.46), Aleix García (Zubimendi, m.67), Pedri (Fermín , m.62), Álex Baena, Ferran Torres, Ayoze Pérez and Morata (Oyarzabal, m.46).
Andorra: Iker Álvarez (Gomes, m.62), San Nicolás, Txus Rubio, Max Llovera, Ian Olivera, Joan Cervós; Jesús Rubio (Clemente, m.79), Guillén (Vieira, m.84), Marc Vales (Eric Vales, m.46), Marc García (Gomes, m.79); and Ricard Fernández (Pujol, m.84).
Goals: 1-0, m.24: Ayoze. 2-0, m.53: Oyarzabal. 3-0, m.66: Oyarzabal. 4-0, m.73: Oyarzabal. 81, m.81: Ferran Torres.
Referee: Gustavo Correia (Portugal).
Incidents: friendly match played at the Nuevo Vivero in Badajoz before 14,300 spectators.
