Ferran Torres bagged a brace to help Spain secure a comfortable 6-0 victory over Cyprus in their Euro 2024 Group A qualifier at Los Carmenes on Tuesday evening.
After beating Georgia badly, La Roja won another big game to stay in second place in Group A, two points ahead of Norway even though they have played one less game.
But Spain is still behind the team in first place, Scotland, which beat Luis de la Fuente’s team early on and has won all five of its games so far.
Ferran Torres, who came on as a substitute, scored twice for Spain. Gavi, Mikel Merino, Joselu, and Alex Baena, who was playing for the first time, also scored.
“Our objective is clear — win the rest of the games,” De la Fuente told Spanish broadcasters TVE.
“We want to finish top of the group.”
Lamine Yamal, who was 16 years and 61 days old when Spain beat Georgia 7-1 last week, was the youngest player to play and score a goal. He was also the youngest player to start for Spain.
When Spain played Georgia, both Marco Asensio and Dani Olmo were hurt, so Yamal and Athletic Bilbao forward Nico Williams started on the wings. De la Fuente also put Merino in for Fabian Ruiz.
Both sides stood still for a minute of silence to remember the people who died in the earthquake in Morocco and the flooding in Libya.
Spain gave fans in Granada the Nations League trophy they won in June, but it was soon forgotten after the women’s team won the World Cup and the Luis Rubiales kiss scandal took the spotlight away from everything.
The former federation president quit his job on Sunday, and interim president Pedro Rocha watched as Spain slowly took apart a team from Cyprus that had been stubborn at first.
After 18 minutes, La Roja took the lead when Williams ran down the left side and sent a cross to Gavi, who was wearing a skull cap because he had hurt his ear while playing for Barcelona. Gavi scored at the near post.
The Athletic winger also set up the second goal. He sent a beautiful cross to the back post, where Real Sociedad midfielder Merino headed it in. Merino and Merino’s club, Athletic, are rivals in the Basque derby.
Yamal hit the post before Morata scored the third goal, but the Atletico Madrid forward who scored a hat trick against Georgia was offside.
Williams limped off the pitch with what looked like a thigh injury. Right before halftime, winger Yeremy Pino took his place.
Joselu, another substitute, scored the third goal by heading in a cross from Real Madrid teammate Dani Carvajal.
The Los Blancos defender also set up the fourth goal, which was scored by Torres of Barcelona. With a cool low finish, Torres kept up his recent good form at club level.
De la Fuente put Villarreal midfielder Baena in for his first game, and a minute later, he scored the fifth goal after a smart backheel by Joselu.
“I’m in the clouds, for any Spanish player to debut for the national team is a dream since we were young, it’s the highest level,” said Baena.
“With a goal on top … when I scored I couldn’t believe it.”
Asensio got hurt, so Torres was called up to replace him. He scored again to seal the rout when Cyprus lost their cool. He ran into the box to get a ball played over the top and then swept it home with ease.
“You have to work at your club to get the chance to come to the national team … but every time I’m lucky enough to come here I want to show what I’m capable of,” Barcelona winger Torres told TVE.
“I am working trying to make sure I take advantage of the minutes I get, to get the confidence of the coach, and I think I’m on the right track.”
Questions about De la Fuente’s job that were brought up by the loss to Scotland now seem far away. The fact that Spain has scored 13 goals in two qualifying games also answers complaints that they don’t have enough offence.
Photo by EPA/Jorge Zapata
