Spain has no mercy with Bulgaria. European champion, Luis de la Fuente and his boys strolled in Sofia in the first classification match for the 2026: 0-3 World Cup, with goals from Oyarzabal, Cucurella and Mikel Merino. The red does not want to relax, while the source begins to look for new automatisms: a challenge for the future, but with the look in the past; Always faithful to their style, Mande Rodri and Carvajal or Pedri and Lamine Yamal.
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Svetoslav Vutsov, Anton Nedyalkov, Emil Tsenov, Kristian Dimitrov, Fabian Nürnberger (Rosen Bozhinov, Min. 62), Ilia Gruev, Ivaylo Chochev, Milanov, Min. Min.), Radoslav Kirilov (Martin Minchev, MIN.
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Unai Simón, Dean Huijsen, Cucurella, Pedro Porro (Dani Carvajal, Min. 62), Le Normand (Cubarsí, Min. 45), Martín Zubimendi (Rodrigo, Min. 62), Merino, Pedri, Pedri, Pedri, Pedri, Pedri, Pedri, Pedri, Pedri, Pedri, Pedri, Pedri, PELLIAMS (DANII Olmo, min. 71), Oyarzabal y lamine yamal (jesús rodríguez, min. 78)
Goals 0-1 min. 5: Oyarzabal. 0-2 min. 30: Cucurella. 0-3 min. 37: Merino.
Arbitrator Srdjan Jovanovic
Yellow cards The Normand (min. 39)
Although the presence of Rodri and Carvajal invited De la Fuente to look, above all, to respect his players’ past, the coach opted for the present. Pedro Porro jumped into the field instead of the side of Madrid, while to replace the Manchester City player, the last winner of the Golden Ball, the coach sent the field to its natural relay: Zubimendi. Porro does not end up hitting; Zubimendi, yes. And it is not new. The new Arsenal player recalled those little societies that are gestated in football and attended Oyarzabal, his former partner in the Royal Society, so that Spain began to erase any attempt to forge Bulgaria to forge confidence in Sofia from a hard defense, cornered in its area.
He also succeeded in listening to Pedri. Since Hansi Flick delayed the position in Barcelona, the canary explains, every time he can, how comfortable he feels in his new demarcation, closer to the defense, with the entire face field, always with football in his head. De la Fuente, who insisted that he saw Pedri near the area, with Fabián back in Paris due to muscle problems, placed 20 in the core with Zubimendi, a pair that had already worked in the semifinal of the Nations League in front of France. On that occasion, however, it had been a change during the game, precisely because of a redness with Mikel Merino, this Thursday media in Sofia.
Pedri handled the football of La Roja, as Merino hit the area, a scorer after fishing a corner kick from Lamine Yamal. Spain did not rest in his idea: he settled in the Bulgarian field, while betting on the speed to move the ball and find the seams to a selection without figures or rebellion, far from his golden stage, when he sent Hristo Stoichkov, host of the duel, delivered to the charism and, of course, to the talent of Lamine Yamal. “The Golden Ball is going to win whenever you want.”
But Lamine, who is with the Paris gala between eyebrow and eyebrow, did not forget that next year there is World Cup. And on 19, which could be one of the distracted in the affordable quotation of La Roja in Bulgaria, he understood the message of De la Source: nothing to trust, even after the Bulgarian team did not win a duel since last November, when he defeated Luxembourg by 0-1.
Lamine Yamal was active in Sofia, as insistent as fine in dribbles, and just as insistent but empty of aiming in the shot. Spain did not need, in any case, Lamine’s scoring power.
Cucurella premiered as a gunner in the absolute, in addition to having the presence of Merino to dominate the areas and, of course, with the fashion striker in La Roja: Oyarzabal, present – as a scorer or as an assistant – in the last four games, key in the eleven since he won a place in the history of Spain in the Eurocopa of Germany.
Oyarzabal is not only a footballer who has tanned under the wing of De la Fuente in La Rojita, but represents the sacrificed player that the coach likes, especially when one of the bands occupies her Lamine Yamal, active to attack, lazy to go back. A problem that is enhanced when Pedro Porro’s back takes care of his back, lacking forcefulness to stop Kirilov in the only play in Bulgaria that put Unai Simon alerts.
Porro’s adventure lasted until the source sent Carvajal to the field. It was the time for Spain to teach present and future with the unusual maturity of Huijsen, football with Pedri and Zubimendi, talent with Lamine and Nico and goal with Oyarzabal; He also has his past and present with Rodri and Carvajal. In short, the Spain that conquered Europe in Germany is still alive in the search to play the roof of the world in the United States.
