Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has made seven changes to the squad that beat Norway and lost to Scotland in March, as he rings the changes again. Notably, 37-year-old Jesus Navas has returned to the team for the first time since 2020, while Nacho Fernandez has been dropped.
De la Fuente looked as if he was pursuing revolution with his first Spain squad, changing over half of the team from Luis Enrique’s World Cup side. After struggling in Glasgow against Scotland, de la Fuente has again switched things up.
As expected, Robin Le Normand has been called up after being nationalised by Spain, for what would be his first cap. He is the only player making his debut in the squad.
Seven changes have been made, with Le Normand, Navas, Unai Simon, Jordi Alba, Juan Bernat, Sergio Canales, Marco Asensio and Rodrigo Moreno. They are placing Nacho, Pedro Porro, Inigo Martinez, Jose Gaya, Alejandro Balde, Dani Ceballos, Mikel Oyarzabal, Iago Aspas and Borja Iglesias.
🚨Luis de la Fuente has announced his second Spain squad.
Seven changes from the March squad, which sees recalls for Jordi Alba, Jesus Navas (at 37!), Rodrigo Moreno and Marco Asensio.
Nacho, Dani Ceballos and Jose Gaya have been dropped.#SpainLaRoja pic.twitter.com/vgWj5AMfYP
— Football España (@footballespana_) June 2, 2023
The likes of Aspas and Balde are not fully fit or injured, while Pedri is also set to miss out, with a similar issue suspected.
Spain face Italy in the Netherlands on the 15th of June in the Nations League semi-final, and will play one of Croatia or the Netherlands if they are victorious.
Should Spain fail to beat Italy, the pressure is likely to pile on de la Fuente, having already been harshly criticised for defeat to Scotland in March. With his latest cquad, it appears he has bet on players that are more experienced on the international scene in general, with the likes of Navas, Alba and Asensio all used to the Spain squad. Ceballos is perhaps the most surprising drop, despite his lack of minutes at Real Madrid, given how positively de la Fuente spoke of him during his first Spain games.
Goalkeepers: Kepa, Unai Simon, David Raya.
Defence: Carvajal, Jesus Navas, Laporte, Le Normand, David Garcia, Jordi Alba, Bernat.
Midfield: Rodri, Zubimendi, Gavi, Mikel Merino, Fabian Ruiz, Canales.
Forwards: Dani Olmo, Morata, Joselu, Rodrigo Moreno, Asensio, Nico Williams, Yeremy Pino.
