Oyarzabal y Ayoze dressed in Copenhagen

Spain tied first place in its group in the Nations League against Denmark, so it will be seeded in the quarterfinal draw to be held next Friday in the Swiss city of Nyon and will play the second leg of that round in home. The team led by Luis de la Fuente beat Denmark in Copenhagen, where the Scandinavians had not knelt since June 2022, with a goal from Oyarzabal in the first half and another from Ayoze in the second half, thus rounding off the task in this first phase of the tournament in which he defends the crown that he won in 2023.

The dynamite of the Real Sociedad striker, who has already scored seven goals in Luis de la Fuente’s time as coach, the same as Morata has scored in the same period, and Ayoze, who accumulated his second goal in four international appearances , sealed La Roja’s sixth consecutive victory against Denmark, which reduced the gap in the final stretch and was centimeters away from tying, but a place in the quarterfinals will have to be played in Serbia on Monday.

The debut of Casadó, the nineteenth player to make his international debut alongside Luis de la Fuente, set another positive note on a night in which the injuries to Baena and Zubimendi, the Villarreal player’s ankle and muscle in the case of txuri urdin, provided the bitter counterpoint in a new recital by the Spanish steamroller, which extends its unbeaten streak of official matches to 20 after a save by David Raya in stoppage time which prevented Olsen from equalizing.

De la Fuente has the lesson he learned in his second game in charge of the senior team etched in his memory. The revolution he made in the eleven compared to the one he had made in the debut against Norway marked that defeat against Scotland in March 2023 that put the coach at the horses’ feet prematurely. Since then, their alignments offer a continuous line. Hence, he only contributed two new things about the last duel against Serbia in the formation with which he paraded in Copenhagen: Olmo for Fabián and Ayoze for Morata.

Both variants were the result of caution. Fabián was suffering from the consequences of a gastric problem and Morata was suffering from the head trauma he suffered the previous week during a Milan training session. With the classification tied, there was room to prioritize the recovery of patients in a team that, otherwise, enjoys the enviable health that it once again boasted in Scandinavian lands.

You can’t argue with the bravery of Denmark, who came out biting with their forward pressure. David Raya risked a couple of actions despite the Viking push, using his good footwork to break lines and punish the spaces generated by the Nordics’ very aggressive disposition.

From recital to scare

Spain knew how to counteract the local verve with a dynamic and vertical game, the watchword of the block commanded by De la Fuente. La Roja based its proposal on the versatility of its attackers, a torment for the Danish defense, which Pedro Porro soon put under stress by filtering a ball for Ayoze that the Tenerife native ended up crashing into the crossbar. The Canary immediately retaliated by assisting in the action that allowed Oyarzabal to put Spain ahead, after Merino took advantage of poor control by Vestergaard to recover the ball and dismast the Scandinavian rearguard.

That goal rewarded the cheeky spirit of Spain, unmoved by the environmental pressure of the Parken in Copenhagen, a boiler despite the freezing weather that greeted this Friday’s match. This selection has a tremendous personality and has an extraordinary wardrobe. With only three starters in Copenhagen from those who attacked England in Berlin last July, he once again displayed a recital of authority against an opponent who threatened from set pieces, but suffered with the speed in Spanish circulation. All in all, Gronbaek had a great chance to equalize in the final stretch of the first half, but Zubimendi smelled the Rennes attacker’s shot in time to deflect it. The Real Sociedad pivot was once again masterful, supporting and striking at the same time a team that did not speculate.

Spain continued chasing the second in a second half that opened with a wonderful maneuver by Dani Olmo on the divide that provided a great opportunity to double the lead for Ayoze, without luck with a shot from the edge of the area that gave too much flight. It mattered little, because Denmark was not able to resist the next attack of a couple whose symbiosis proved lethal for the Scandinavians. The Barça footballer served again and the former Betis player ended up crossing the net, already fully established in De la Fuente’s plans after breaking into the national team on the eve of the European Championship in Germany.

Isaksen closed the gap by taking advantage of a poor delivery from Fabián to David Raya, shortly after the Lazio striker crashed a cross shot against the post, and Denmark compromised Spain’s victory until the end, preventing the Vikings from tying with a phenomenal intervention by David Raya and will arrive even more strengthened in Tenerife.