Luis Enrique has named his 23-man La Roja squad for the Final Four of the Nations League. Spain face Italy on October 6th in the semi-final, a re-run of the Euro 2020 semi-final that Italy won on penalties. Roberto Mancini’s men went on to beat England in the final at Wembley Stadium to win the competition outright.
🚨 OFICIAL | ¡¡Estos son los elegidos por @LUISENRIQUE21!!
23 jugadores conforman la CONVOCATORIA del técnico asturiano para la Final Four de la #NationsLeague.
🆚 La @SeFutbol se estrenará en semifinales contra Italia el miércoles 6 de octubre.
🙌🏻 ¡¡#VamosEspaña!! pic.twitter.com/XPHc8Xll4v
— Selección Española de Fútbol (@SeFutbol) September 30, 2021
Luis Enrique selected the following for the international break: Unai Simon, David de Gea, Robert Sanchez; Pedro Porro, Cesar Azpilicueta, Aymeric Laporte, Eric Garcia, Inigo Martinez, Pau Torres, Sergio Reguilon, Marcos Alonso; Rodri, Sergio Busquets, Pedri, Gavi, Koke, Mikel Merino, Marcos Llorente; Yeremi Pino, Ferran Torres, Mikel Oyarzabal, Pablo Fornals and Pablo Sarabia.
The headline inclusion is Gavi. The 17-year-old Andalusian playmaker has played just 288 minutes of first-team football for Barcelona, but has shown Luis Enrique enough to warrant a place in his 23-man roster. The Asturian has also decided against including a conventional centre-forward in his squad.
🗣️ @LUISENRIQUE21: "Conozco a Gavi desde hace muchos años, es uno de los referentes de la cantera del Barça. No tengo ninguna duda del rendimiento que va a dar".
➡️ "Es un interior puro, muy al estilo Barça. Aporta cosas interesantes con balón y sin balón".#VamosEspaña pic.twitter.com/SJGKhPrKvh
— Selección Española de Fútbol (@SeFutbol) September 30, 2021
The Asturian dismissed challenges of his decision to choose Gavi in his squad despite his lack of experience. “I’ve known Gavi for many years, he’s one of the benchmarks of Barcelona’s youth academy,” he said. “I have no doubt about the performance he’s going to give. He’s a pure interior, very much in the Barcelona style. He brings interesting things with and without the ball.”
