Jordan-1 Spain-3 Young stars strike to give La Roja warm-up victory
GOALS from Ansu Fati, Gavi and Nico Williams gave Spain a comfortable 3-1 victory over Jordan on Thursday in their final warm-up match before the World Cup.
Luis Enrique’s men were dominant throughout and took the lead through Fati’s blasted effort early in the first half.
Gavi finished beautifully for their second before Williams added a third, and though Jordan scored a late consolation, Spain made it eight wins from their last 11 matches as they head to Qatar in excellent form.
Spain will now turn their attention to putting together the finishing touches ahead of their World Cup campaign, having not made it past the round of 16 since winning the tournament in 2010.
Fati put Spain ahead after 13 minutes when Marco Asensio laid the ball off to him in the box before the Barcelona man’s low shot went in under Jordan goalkeeper Abdallah Al Fakhouri.
Jordan had a great chance to level moments later, though Yazan Al Naimat could only fire straight at Robert Sanchez after catching Pau Torres in possession just outside Spain’s box.
Fati nearly scored his second before the break, but his looping effort landed on top of the net as he continued to threaten down Spain’s left.
Gavi made it 2-0 after the interval, the ball falling kindly for him in the box before the midfielder coolly stroked into the bottom right corner.
Williams scored a third with a sublime late strike, shifting onto his left foot before slamming into the far corner after receiving a pass from Yeremy Pino.
Jordan pulled a goal back in injurytime, Hamza Al Dardoor bringing a Mohammed Abu urayq cross from the right down before poking past substitute goalkeeper David Raya, though it was not enough to stop Spain from heading to the World Cup in high spirits.
Spain’s young stars shine With Spain’s old guard of the likes of Gerard Pique,
avi and Andres Iniesta long gone, their new generation is showing signs they have the potential to recreate at least some of what their predecessors achieved.
The combined age of Spain’s three goalscorers was just 5 as they eased to victory, holding 3.2 percent possession while registering 2.03 xG (expected goals) to Jordan’s 1.15.
Fati was very impressive against Jordan, setting them on their way with his 13th-minute goal.
He was a constant threat on the left and managed 13 touches in Jordan’s box, eight more than any other Spain player, while completing 22 passes in the opposition half.
Raya, the Brentford stopper, came on to replace Robert Sanchez between the sticks for Spain at half-time, and endured an anxious second half. He handled the ball outside Spain’s penalty area within a minute of his introduction, before he spilled from a long-range effort, forcing his defender to boot behind for a corner. He will have done his chances of playing time in Qatar no good with this uneasy display.
Spain’s World Cup campaign gets under way against Costa Rica on Wednesday, while Jordan will not be in action again until next year.