Spain 4-Lithuania 0 | Plan B is for guarantees

This Under-21 generation closes its cycle as Absolute for all intents and purposes. FIFA decreed it like this the day before and the players demonstrated it on the pitch. It would have been painful for Lithuania to be called the U-21, because if the wrinkles are removed from the faces the match looked like veterans against youth, but the rookies were always the Lithuanians. La Roja (they have managed to eliminate the diminutive of their name) submitted and thrashed Lithuania from start to finish. He had personality and scored all the goals that he lacked in the semifinals of the Eurocup last Thursday. Zubimendi offered another recital, Brahim wasted fantasy and Bryan Gil claimed that he is for more even if he is Under-21 by age until 2023. Luis Enrique can breathe easy: Plan B has a level for what it takes.

De la Fuente warned before the game: “We have come to win.” Rarely does this fantastic coach say anything to the gallery who has shown once again that if the damn virus puts the Absolute in trouble at the Eurocup, the replacement is guaranteed on the pitch and also on the bench. In the DNA of the Riojan technician there is only the word triumph. He wins a lot, he wins almost always, and he does so from a normality and humility that are lacking in these times of modern football and social networks.

This sport evolves every year but there is a rule that will never be out of date: the one who scores one more goal wins than the other. That's what De la Fuente does, without unnecessary frills before and after games.

Spain entered the duel with a message from their coach burned into the fire: friendlies do not exist when defending the National Team. In four minutes they had fired dangerously three times. In the last of the kicks Hugo Guillamón, a central defender from Valencia, scored a pass from Manu García at the exit of a corner. The goal was gasoline for the Spanish fire, because far from lowering the revolutions they raised them even more. Arrivals followed and in the 24th minute a filtered pass from Gonzalo Villar ended up in Brahim's boots. The Malaga player entered the area and posed a dilemma for the Swedish defender: right or left leg. He has the quality of hitting him the same with both, for which he forced the defender to retreat and that gave him enough meters to set up the shot and beat Svedkauskas.

The party could be complete in the first act, because after half an hour Abel Ruiz missed a penalty caused by Bryan Gil. He played to deceive the goalkeeper, who held up well.

In the second half Spain came out with the conviction that the blow to the table was a punch. The changes brought freshness and they entered just as plugged in. In 53 'Miranda made the third from a direct free kick and in 73' Puado, with a magnificent maneuver, achieved the fourth. The Espanyol striker thus closes a spectacular week and a half, with three goals in three games and the feeling that with only one year of his contract ahead he is the bargain of the market.

This Selection turned a brown into an opportunity. They exchanged flip-flops for boots to give a display. Now seven are staying in Las Rozas for possible setbacks: they have earned being the first on the list.