Spain faces another good opportunity to appease doubts

Spain faces another good opportunity to appease doubts

The selection meets again with an Italy also in reconstruction in search of the final of the League of Nations

   MADRID, 14 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Spanish team will try this Thursday (8:45 p.m./La 1) to seal their pass to the final of the League of Nations 2022-2023 and give themselves a new opportunity to allay new doubts and fight for a title, although they will have a tough rival up front. like Italy, also in reconstruction after its fiasco of staying out of the World Cup in Qatar.

Spain is once again on the verge of lifting a trophy. It hasn't done so for eleven years, when the historic and unprecedented Eurocup-World-European Cup triplet closed at the Kiev Olympic Stadium, and since that day, with a well-remembered win against the 'Azzurra' (4-0), they haven't been presented many more options.

In 2013, they clearly fell to Brazil (3-0) in the Confederations Cup final and then they had to wait until 2021 to be close again with the Eurocup semifinals, lost to Italy on penalties, and with the final League of Nations, who escaped against France (2-1). 20 months after this last defeat, and with World Cup disappointment in between in Qatar, the 'Red' will try to win the third edition of this new competition that UEFA devised to increase the quality and level of international matches on the continent.

The entire dressing room gives maximum importance to this title, less relevant without a doubt than a EURO or a World Cup, but with the value, not only of its official status but of the route that must be exercised and for the turning point that it can mean for a team who comes from disappointing in Qatar, eliminated in the round of 16 by Morocco and with only one game won.

The ticket, agonizing with that goal by Álvaro Morata in the last breath in Braga, to this 'Final a Cuatro' was won by Spain with Luis Enrique Martínez still in charge. Now, it's up to De la Fuente to culminate in the best possible way the second consecutive presence in the final phase and come out stronger after an irregular debut last March.

Spain began its new project with the man from La Rioja with a resounding victory in Malaga against Norway (3-0), a game resolved at the end and that left some doubts that increased days later with the unexpected defeat in Glasgow against Scotland (2-0), where the image was not the best. The new coach asks for time to consolidate his idea and now he will have a great test against one of the 'big' of the Old Continent such as Italy.

And the setback at Hampden Park can hardly be repeated in Luis de la Fuente's eleven, who renewed his second list for these two games. Thus, Rodri Hernández, despite coming from the exhaustion of the Champions League final and the consequent celebrations, Mikel Merino and Joselu Mato may be the only ones who remain from that fateful night.

The defense will be new because none of the four that played at the start (Pedro Porro, David García, Íñigo Martínez and José Luis Gayà) is there. Everything indicates that the recently nationalized Robin Le Normand will be the starter, with Nacho Fernández, substitute for the injured David García, fighting for the other central position along with an Aymeric Laporte who hasn't played too much. Dani Carvajal and Jordi Alba, who is returning, could be the full-backs, while the mystery of the goal must also be cleared up and whether it will once again be owned by Unai Simón, absent in March due to injury, or by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

On the offensive front, there are also some doubts, both in the design, the 4-2-3-1 or the 4-3-3, and in the pieces. Dani Olmo has been 'touched' in recent days and it is a serious doubt, which further opens up the range of possibilities with players of a more 'midfielder' type like Gavi and Sergio Canales, an interior player like Marco Asensio or more overflow with Yéremi Pino.

Haro's coach must find the best formula to counteract an Italy that is also in need of happiness after the disappointment of being left out of a World Cup for the second consecutive edition and just one year after enjoying a title again, EURO 2021.

Roberto Mancini remains in charge of the four-time world champion, who continues with her renewal process, but who will not be excessively changed compared to the defeat (1-2) against Spain in the semifinals of the last edition of this League of Nations . Although he no longer has emblems like the center-backs Bonucci and Chiellini, he keeps others like Verratti, Barella, Chiesa, Jorginho or Donnarumma, all of them starters in the final of the last EURO.

Despite the setback of not being in Qatar, Italian football has shown its good health this season with teams in all the continental club finals (Inter, Roma and Fiorentina), although all of them without much luck in terms of titles. Except for surprise, Italy will try to give the ball to its rival and surprise him in transitions

Multimedia content (graphics):

Previous statistics Spain vs Italy (UEFA Nations League semifinal)

https://www.epdata.es/estadisticas-previa-espana-vs-italia-semifinal-uefa-nations-league/a695c60b-9406-4f70-a015-6c5cf4755442

SPAIN: Unai Simón; Carvajal, Le Normand, Nacho, Jordi Alba; Rodri, Merino; Asensio, Canales, Gavi; and Joselu.

ITALY: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Acerbi, Sticks, Dimarco; Stretcher, Jorginho, Verratti; Church, Retegui y Pellegrini.

--REFEREE: Slavko Vincic (SLO).

--ESTADIO: Twente Stadium de Enschede.

--TIME: 8:45 p.m./1:00 a.m.