Scotland, land of lakes, whiskey and golf, received Spain on Monday with a shining sun. It’s been twelve years since the two teams have not seen each other and they had to strengthen ties before tonight’s duel. “They have evolved a lot, they continue to dominate the direct game but now they add depth and breadth to their game,” warned Luis de la Fuente from Hampden Park, the venue for the match. “Not to mention the level of their footballers, who play for teams like Liverpool or Arsenal,” he added.
After settling his debut against Norway under the support of the spirited Malaga public with a win, with quite a few light ones but also some dark ones, the new coach faces his first posting on the absolute bench in Glasgow. And he does so cautiously but full of optimism. “We have barely completed four training sessions and against Norway I already saw automatisms, we can only grow”, he congratulated himself.
History seconded his optimism. Scotland has not knocked Spain down since 1984, on the way to the World Cup in Mexico, precisely on the same stage as today and with a goal from Sir Kenny Dalglish included. No player of those who will jump to the green was born then.
During his time as U-21 coach it was very common for De la Fuente to make many changes to his starting eleven from one game to another in the same break. “If I’ve done it before and it’s worked for me, why change?” He questioned himself, responding at the same time. Spain will wear an eleven against Scotland with several new faces compared to the match against Norway. Among the candidates to occupy a position as starters, two stand out above the rest. The first is, without a doubt, Joselu. The Espanyol goalscorer was the great protagonist at La Rosaleda with his record debut thanks to his two goals and he has bought tickets to break into the eleven. Also Ceballos, one of the coach’s trusted men, surprisingly a substitute in Malaga, but who was the first change in the second half.
Beyond the match against Scotland, Luis de la Fuente stopped in particular to talk about Barça’s Gavi, to whom he distributed almost as many praises as warnings. “He is in a mature phase and we have not seen the best version of him yet, he has virtues such as his energy, his courage or his genius. Give me a Gavi before other types of players ”, he began. Although later the tone changed: “When he acquires more maturity – he repeated the term – he will be able to control behaviors that are now not beneficial for him or for the team, such as seeing cards so soon. It’s something we’ve talked about with him.”
