Just three weeks before Spain’s debut in the World Cup against Cape Verde, Luis de la Fuente revealed this Monday at the Telefónica Building in Madrid the 26 players he will take to the tournament held in the US, Mexico, and Canada, where the team will seek to sew the second star onto their jersey with a squad led by the very young Lamine Yamal. As expected, the coach has called up Joan García for the goalkeeper position, the also Barcelona player Eric García to strengthen the defense line, and the Madrid youth player and Osasuna player Víctor Muñoz. The call-up sees the return of players like Nico Williams, despite not being physically recovered, as is also the case with Yamal. Yeremi Pino from Crystal Palace also returns. In the list, from which Atlético’s Le Normand and Madrid’s Huijsen have been dropped, there is no player from Real Madrid.
“This is a very analyzed and matured list, we have been thinking about it for many months,” De la Fuente confessed about a call-up he described as difficult because there is “a lot of quality in Spain.” “Everyone on the list deserves to be there 100%,” he stated, especially referring to the three goalkeepers called up, “impressive,” when asked about the absences.
The coach arrived at this day with the bulk of the call-up quite clear, after many months of work with a fairly stable group. But some uncertainties remained this Monday, such as the role of Joan García, who will compete for the starting spot with Unai Simon, and Álex Remiro, who was ultimately left out of the goalkeeper roster, where David Raya is included after his exceptional season. There was also doubt among the defenders, where Huijsen’s fate was unclear, and he has been dropped from the call-up. However, Eric Garcia and Marc Pubill have been included. In midfield, the inclusion of Gavi was expected, as it happened, after Fermín’s injury, and in the attack line, several spots were anticipated to be related to the management of the end of injuries of Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal, who will not be available at the start of the tournament. This is where 22-year-old Víctor Muñoz comes into play.
The team, except for PSG and Arsenal players who play in the Champions League final, will gather on Saturday, May 30 from 5:00 p.m. at the Ciudad del Fútbol in Las Rozas. Among those called up, nine players who, although they will not go to the World Cup, will accompany the team in training and stay with the squad until the match against Iraq in A Coruña, scheduled for June 4, will also be included. Those nine are Beñat Turrientes, Javi Guerra, Javi Rodríguez, Jesús Rodríguez, Leo Román, Marc Bernal, Gonzalo García, Jon Martín, and Sergio Gómez. The day after that match in Spain, the team will fly to the US, to their training base in Chattanooga. From there, they will travel to the Mexican city of Puebla, where they will play another friendly against Peru. That will be the last match before the debut against Cape Verde on Monday, June 15 in Atlanta (6:00 p.m.).
The list of 26 called up by De La Fuente:
Goalkeepers: Unai Simón, David Raya, and Joan García
Defenders: Marc Cucurella, Alex Grimaldo, Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Pubill, Eric García, Marcos Llorente, and Pedro Porro
Midfielders: Pedri, Fabián Ruiz, Zubimendi, Gavi, Rodri Hernández, Alex Baena, Mikel Merino
Forwards: Oyarzabal, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams, Yeremi Pino, Ferran Torres, Borja Iglesias, Víctor Muñoz, and Lamine Yamal
