SPANIARDS ENTER A NEW ERA
Anew era is about to start for Spain at the World Cup, with a generation of talented young players taking centrestage in its quest to win a second world title. Spain’s revamped squad, led by back-to-back Golden Boy award winners Pedri and Gavi, will begin being put to the test on Wednesday against an experienced Costa Rica team who are bringing back some of the players who helped them make a surprising run to the quarterfinals eight years ago.
The Costa Ricans hope to repeat the success of the World Cup in Brazil and avoid the debacle of four years ago in Russia, when they didn’t win any matches and were eliminated in the group stage.
Spain also wants to avoid a repeat of their campaign in the 2018 tournament, when they was ousted by the host country in the round of 16 after going through an embarrassing coaching change just days before its debut.
Many of the veterans from that tournament are gone, including Sergio Ramos, Gerard Piqué, Andrés Iniesta and David Silva. Instead, coach Luis Enrique is betting on the likes of 19-year-old Pedri, 20-year-old Ansu Fati and Nico Williams, and 18-year-old Gavi, Spain’s youngest ever goal scorer.
“I think it’s very positive because young players bring to the team energy,” Luis Enrique said on Tuesday. “We try to manage that with the experience that we have as a staff and trying to get the best from every player.”
Spain enters the tournament in Qatar with the third-youngest squad among the 32 nations, with an average age of 25.3, after the United States and Ghana. More than half of the squad is 25 years old or younger, with six players at 20 or younger and playing in their first World Cup. —