The latest Spain squad was announced last week and as tends to be the case with Luis Enrique, the debate was plentiful and emotional.
Some of the headlines were potential first caps for Nico Williams and Borja Iglesias, who were called up. However the number of high-profile absences was discussed far more. The likes of Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara, Paris Saint-Germain’s Sergio Ramos and Barcelona’s Ansu Fati were left out.
One of the bigger stories in Spain was the absence of Iago Aspas. The Celta Vigo captain has been in fine form again at the start of the season, following on from another stellar campaign last time out.
Speaking to Cadena SER on Monday evening, Aspas explained that he would keep fighting towards the end for a spot on the plane to the World Cup.
“It hurts me to not go with the national team, I am strong-minded and I will not give up until the end. If there was no chance of going to Qatar, I would not try to fight with my team every week, I have that prize around the corner and I am going to try and do everything possible.”
However he does believe he would be closer if he played for a bigger team.
“If puts me in the last squad, better than better, but I pay for playing at Celta but I have that prize around the corner and I will do everything I can.”
Many have wondered whether his exclusion might be due to a personal problem with Spain manager Luis Enrique. Aspas was asked whether he thought his absence was down to footballing issues or something else.
“I would like to think so, I have never had a problem with the manager and if I did, I would think he would tell me because he tells you things to your face.”
As Marca reported, Luis Enrique did respond to questions about the absence of Aspas in his press conference. The Spain manager seems to think that Aspas might not work as well in a different context.
“There are players that in their team are number one, they score goals and the team plays for them. A team is not formed of the best 11 players from La Liga, the one who scores the most goals. You have to see the context and in the national team, I want a team.”
