England play Spain on September 8th
In their first match since that heartbreaking night at the Luzhniki, England will face Spain in the first round of UEFA Nations League matches on September 8th.
The England squad features a couple of returning faces, including Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana, but the Spain squad really threw up some surprises.
After Gerard Piqué, Andrés Iniesta and David Silva retired from international football after another disappointing World Cup this summer, Luis Enrique’s first squad was always going to feature some new faces, but nobody predicted some of the omissions he has made.
Jordi Alba was not selected by Luis Enrique, who coached the left-back at Barcelona; Enrique instead elected to hand call-ups to Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso and Valencia’s José Luís Gayà.
Atlético Madrid midfielder Koke was another notable omission, given that he started most games at the World Cup ahead of Thiago Alcantara.
Koke’s teammate Saúl made the cut alongside Atléti’s summer signing Rodri.
Among the forwards, Álvaro Morata was selected, while Iago Aspas was dropped despite playing a key role for Spain in the World Cup.
The Spain squad in full is as follows:
GK: David De Gea, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Pau Lopez
DEF: Raúl Albiol, Sergio Ramos, Nacho, Iñigo Martínez, Cesar Azpilicueta, Dani Carvajal, Marcos Alonso, José Luís Gayà.
MID: Sergio Busquets, Sergi Roberto, Saúl Ñiguez, Rodri, Thiago Alcántara, Dani Ceballos, Isco.
FOR: Marco Asensio, Álvaro Morata, Diego Costa, Suso, Rodrigo Moreno.
The inclusion of players like Ceballos and Suso signals the dawn of a new era for Spain, who – having just about got used to life without Xavi – must now adjust to the loss of Iniesta, Silva and Piqué.
A first call-up for Gayà is well deserved. Gayà is the latest of many left-backs to emerge from Valencia’s youth set-up, after Alba and Juan Bernat went on to sign for Barcelona and Bayern Munich respectively.
⚠ OFICIAL | Lista de convocados por @LUISENRIQUE21 para los partidos ante Inglaterra (@England) y Croacia (@HNS_CFF) de la UEFA Nations League#UnaNuevaIlusión pic.twitter.com/JXES4A9VoD
— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) August 31, 2018
