'La Rojita' closes 2022 adding his sixth consecutive victory against Japan

The goals from Beñat Turrientes and Manu Sánchez were enough to win Seville

MADRID, 18 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Spanish Under-21 team put an end to the year 2022 with a 2-0 victory against Japan, in a friendly match this Friday at the La Cartuja Stadium in Seville, where 'La Rojita' demonstrated his defensive solidity and added his sixth consecutive victory, against a strong and competitive opponent.

Before the absolute teams of both countries meet on December 1 at the World Cup in Qatar, the match between their Under-21s left a disputed duel, in which Luis de la Fuente's men, from less to more during the meeting, they exhibited their closet background and solved the clash against a prestigious rival with flying colors.

And it is that both Spain and Japan opted for a very vertical football from the initial whistle that, although it seemed to be diluted with the passing of the minutes, the Spaniards did not take long to recover to corner the visitors in their field, overflowing again and again by the band of the Tottenham attacker Bryan Gil, very participative in the game.

The most dangerous judge of 'La Rojita' was born from his boots in the first half and after a good triangulation of the Barbate man, Manu Sánchez crossed a ball to the penalty spot that Sergio Gómez did not take advantage of and the ball went very centered into the hands of Sasaki. The reply from the Japanese was not long in coming, but a prodigious hand from Arnau Tenas prevented the Japanese goal.

Luis de la Fuente moved the bench at half-time and it was precisely the newly incorporated Beñat Turrientes who broke the tie. The Real Sociedad player took advantage of a rebound in the small area, after a shot by Sergio Gómez, to give his team the advantage and unblock the game. As in the first half, the Japanese team wanted to quickly return the blow received, but once again Tenas blocked Mito's shot with his body.

Rodrigo Riquelme, another of the changes, made it 2-0 shortly after, but his shot from the edge ended up repelled by the post. From then on, good minutes for the locals, who now did have complete control of the ball, threatening the rival goal over and over again. It was Manu Sánchez who finally found the prize for the second goal.

Osasuna's left-back took advantage of a ball rejected by the Japanese goalkeeper to score with a header, prior to a very good diagonal from Riquelme, who could not finish. The Japanese timidly tried to get closer on the scoreboard, but the local defensive solidity was enough to save the result and leave Seville with a clean sheet. In 2023 it's European.