Luis de la Fuente announced this Friday the list of 23 players that will make up the U-21 for the European 2023 qualifying matches against Lithuania and Slovakia on March 25 and 29. The great news for La Rojita is the return of Sancet, who dropped out of the last call-up due to injury and has even made it onto the pre-list of 45 players that Luis Enrique advanced to UEFA to go with the Absolute on this FIFA date , although finally the coach has ruled him out and he will go with the U-21. His teammates at Athletic Nico Williams and Vencedor make the Bilbao team the most represented on the list along with Real Sociedad (Karrikaburu, Torrentes and Pacheco). Also noteworthy is the presence of Bryan Gil and Abel Ruiz, who in the last year also passed through the ranks of the Absolute, and that of Barcelona player Nico González, one of the sensations of the season.
In De la Fuente’s list there are four players who have been called up for the first time to defend the colors of the Sub 21: Fuenlabrada goalkeeper Miguel Ángel Morro and midfielders Torrente, from Granada, Riquelme, from Mirandés, and Baena, from Girona.
With a victory against Slovakia, La Rojita will virtually certify their pass to the 2023 Under-21 European Championship once UEFA ruled that Russia was left out of its competitions due to its conflict with Ukraine. Spain is the leader of its group with 15 points and the Slovaks, without Russia, are second with 9. If De la Fuente’s men win against Slovakia in the second game of the break, they will have achieved the virtual pass, since, at least , will get six points difference to his direct pursuer when there are only two days left to play and the one who gets a considerable goal difference..
This is the complete list of the Sub-21
goalkeepers: Tenas (Barcelona) Joan García (Espanyol) and Morro (Fuenlabrada).
defenses: Víctor Gómez (Málaga), Francés (Zaragoza), Manu Sánchez (Osasuna), Miranda (Betis) Hugo Guillamón (Valencia), Víctor Chust (Cádiz), Pacheco (R. Sociedad) and Torrente (Granada).
Midfielders: Turrientes (Real Sociedad), Rodri (Betis), Nico Gonález (Barcelona), Riquelme (Mirandés), Baena (Girona), Sergio Gómez (Anderlecht) Vencedor and Sancet (Athletic).
strikers: Byran Gil (Valencia), Abel Ruiz (Sporting Braga), Nico Williams (Athletic) and Karrikaburu (Real Sociedad).