Spain took on Brazil on Tuesday evening, and there was plenty of entertainment on show, with six goals (albeit three penalties), fine showings from teenage starlets Endrick Felipe and Lamine Yamal, and no shortage of fire between the two teams. Yet Spain manager Luis de la Fuente was unhappy not with his defence, but the Spain fans.
The game took place at the Santiago Bernabeu, and it appeared there was plenty of the home regulars still in their seats, as Endrick was applauded and Alvaro Morata was whistled as he came off due to his Atletico Madrid allegiances. Morata also reacted to the crowd’s abuse, and Vinicius Junior then came over to give him some abuse of his own.
💥 "Me duele en el alma que en mi país piten a un jugador de la selección"
💥 "Siento vergüenza"
🗣️ Luis de la Fuente sobre los pitos a Morata pic.twitter.com/4Ot8YUYM75
— GOL PLAY (@Gol) March 27, 2024
After the match, de la Fuente was deeply unimpressed with the fans, as he told Diario AS.
“It hurts my soul, that in my country, they whistle at the captain of the national team and when I hear those whistles, I feel pain. In the end there are always people who are in the minority that stand out. The Bernabeu was enormous, but as a Spaniard I feel ashamed when a player from Spain is whistled.”
🇪🇸❤️ Álvaro Morata, Spain’s captain, hands over the captain’s armband to Rodri for Spain’s game against Brazil tonight, due to the recent passing of the midfielder’s grandfather.
What a gesture! pic.twitter.com/IeWddcxaWV
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) March 26, 2024
“But the vast majority have supported Spain. It is everyone’s job to educate in support of the national team. Here we have to leave aside the colours of the clubs, and that is a job for the press. Let’s see if we can all solve this.”
This of course is a reasonably regular occurrence for Spanish internationals. Former Barcelona legend Gerard Pique was regularly whistled for saying he supported the right for people to vote in Catalonia, while Gavi has received offensive chants for playing for Barcelona too. Meanwhile Morata has also received abuse from fans at the Metropolitano too, singing ‘Morata, how bad are you!’
