Luis Enrique Martínez has not summoned any player from the Real Betisnew champion of the Copa del Reyfor the next matches of the Spanish selection in the League of Nations, the first of which will take place at Benito Villamarín on June 2 against Portugal, which does have Betis William Carvalho in its ranks.
Several Real Betis players, after their great season, were candidates to be part of this broad call-up of 25 players announced on Monday by Luis Enrique, cases of Juanmi or Borja Iglesias, the top national scorers, with 20 and 19 goals , respectively; midfielder Sergio Canales, who has been one of the best players on the squad in the successful Betica campaign; central defender Marc Bartra, who has completed a sensational final stretch of the season; or the left-back Álex Moreno, who has been the highest scoring defender in LaLiga.
Luis Enrique, however, has not remembered the Real Betis footballers and it is the first time in nine years that no player from the brand-new Copa del Rey champion has attended the next call-up for the national team, since 2013, when Vicente del Bosque did not call any Atlético player for the Confederations Cup, according to Fran Martínez, from @LaLigaEnDirecto.
Anger among the Betic fans
Luis Enrique’s decision not to take any Betis player has raised a strong controversy among the Betis fans, although a good part of them consider that the best thing for the team is that their footballers are not exposed in the national team, from which they can return injured, as happened to Sergio Canales a year and a half ago after falling against Germany and being out for several months. The fact is that many Betis fans are going to turn their backs on the national team, despite playing on their field, and the influx of public to Benito Villamarín will be much less than expected if there is a Betis player in the squad, despite that the prices are affordable and range from 20 euros for the cheapest ticket to 75 for the most expensive.
read also