Joselu, a veteran of a thousand battles, made his debut in the national team and solved Spain’s many problems at the last minute. The forcefulness of the result, finally a festive 3-0, invites an optimism that did not match the team’s performance. Luis de la Fuente has a lot of work ahead of him. He was forced to change half the team, the five players who played ahead of Rodri, to shake up the game and beat Norway, who played better for an hour and finished worse than Spain.
Four months after the World Cup and with a new coach, this valley period of Spanish football continues, quite insipid, without differential players. This game leaves without a team of indisputable starters. A wide sector of critics claimed players who did not go to Qatar, but their return to the team did not change the general behavior. Aspas went unnoticed, Merino did not add clarity in the midfield and the doubts that Spain drags in the international concert remained.
It took little time for Spain to score and it took even less time for them to lose control of the game. Norway says little in football. It lacks history, unlike its neighbors. Sweden was a major power in the 1950s and Denmark has enjoyed bright times. Norway was associated with skiing and the sports typical of her latitude, but not with soccer, where her selection deserved discreet consideration. Honest, mechanical football and little else. This is no longer the case.
Norway produces competent players these days and enjoys two undisputed stars. One is Håland, who did not play against Spain. Odegaard is the other. Gone was the promising youth who had not quite crossed the border that separates great details from consistent performance. Odegaard is the obvious symptom of a team that is not intimidating, but is growing. Without Håland, Norway is missing a boil. He bordered the tie several times. Kepa Arrizabalaga, irregular in his return to the national team, avoided the 1-1 with an electrical intervention, shortly after the referee made the longuis in a penalty from Rodri to Odegaard.
The panorama did not change until the massive entry of Spanish substitutes. In this chapter, De la Fuente was blunt. First Gavi and Iago Aspas disappeared. Shortly after, Merino, Olmo and Morata. So much change sounded strong, but the shake was necessary. Since Dani Olmo’s early goal, the team lost control in all areas of the field, a disjointed set that began to show signs of dejection. No line worked, nor did anyone rebel against the bad drift of the match.
All the unease that the team caused in the last two World Cup matches –against Japan and Morocco– resumed in Luis de la Fuente’s first game as coach. For now, the team does not present noteworthy features. Good players, some very promising, like Balde, but perfectly interchangeable. No one transmits an indisputable ownership. It is not a selection built on basic pillars and well known to all.
Five from the bench came on halfway through the second half, when the torpor began to invade and the Norwegians were afraid of a draw. A resounding error from Sorloth was enough for De la Fuente. The game looked very bad. He looked around and called on several players he knows inside out since his time as U21 coach –Ceballos, Oyarzabal, Fabián and Yeremi Pino– and a veteran who has played in Germany, England and several teams in the Spanish League. . Joselu debuted many years ago at Real Madrid. He is now the flagship player for Espanyol, whose fate in the championship depends on Joselu more than any other. No one would say the same about his role in the national team, but in his first game he arrived, saw and scored. Twice, too. Enough to erase the previous bad impression of Spain.
