A summit between Germany and Spain at the opening of the European Nations League

The first round, which lasts three days, sees important matches starting on Thursday, with a meeting between two giants, Germany and their guest Spain, in Group Four of the first category.

“La Roja” will be invited in Stuttgart against the 2014 world champion in Brazil, in the first competitive match that brings the two teams together since the 2010 World Cup semifinals, which Spain resolved with a clean goal from Carles Puyol before continuing go ahead and win the final at the expense of the Netherlands in South Africa. .

Almost a decade after that confrontation, few faces are still present in both teams, as Toni Kroos is the only one who remains with Germany while Sergio Ramos, Sergio Busquets and Jesús Navas remain in the ranks of the Spain team.

Coach Luis Enrique called up the young Barça winger Ansu Fati (17 years old) for the first time, as well as Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcántara, while losing the efforts of Adama Traore, the English player from Wolverhampton, who was called up for the first time time to the national team for their “Covid”. -19 “Similar to Mikel Oriazabal from Real Sociedad.

Enrique, who will lead the national team for the first time after his return to the head of the coaching staff last November for a second term after the first between July 2018 and June 2019, said: “If we are going to play the Eurocup tomorrow, this will be my team. All players have to do it. ” One step ahead, whether they are 17, 19 or 33 years old. Ansu Fati is at a level that allows him to be here with us. I want to see (Adama Traore) train with us. It has come a long way, it is a jewel with enormous potential. “

Spain is a great power

Alcantara’s teammates in the Bavarian giants will be absent from the game after coach Joachim Loew decided to give them a break after winning the Champions League title on August 23, and they are the first goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmisch and Leon Goritska.

The match will be an opportunity for Woof to put some of his players to the test, especially full-back Laura Sané, who comes from Manchester City to Bayern this summer, who kept him out of action in August 2019 with a serious knee injury. in August 2019, plus sniper Timo Werner, who recently joined Chelsea from Leipzig and Kay. Harvitz is a Bayer Leverkusen player who is also close to the London club.

“We are happy with the team’s return to the field and the opportunity to play international games again,” said Loew, who has overseen the national team since 2006.

As for Sanneh (24), he confirmed in an interview with the German Federation for Gaming website, “I think I’m 80 percent ready,” adding: “Of course, I miss the pace and the matches. “.

The German squad is witnessing the return of Bayern defender Niklas Zolle, who also suffered a knee injury last October, and returned to competition in the Champions League round of 16 in Lisbon last August, and starred in when he replaced Jerome Boateng, injured during his team’s victory. Zero against Paris Saint-Germain in the final match.

“I missed practicing what I love. Spain is a great force in soccer and they have great players,” said Zole.

Zolleh, 24, hopes that Bayern’s success will inspire the national team in their preparations for the European Championship, which has been postponed from summer 2020 to next year due to the Corona pandemic.

“We have achieved something great with Bayern Munich. It should be a catalyst for more titles. We must take advantage of the Nations League to seriously prepare for the European Cup next summer,” he said.
In the other match of the same group, Switzerland will host Ukraine on Thursday, while Germany will host the former on Sunday in the second round, while Ukraine will be the guest of Spain.

Ukraine’s legendary coach Andriy Shevchenko, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2004, said: “We deserve to be at the first level. We deal with the Nations League as a very important competition in which many young players have the opportunity to demonstrate. their worth and compete to find them a place in the starting lineup. “

Bale is looking for himself

In the most prominent matches on Thursday, the Finnish team will host their Welsh counterpart in Group Four of the second category, where the focus will turn to Gareth Bale, who missed most of Real Madrid’s matches after the resumption of the local league in June and achieved his Real Club title.

Bale’s future remains uncertain in French coach Zinedine Zidane’s squad, but Welsh coach Ryan Geiger puts all his trust in the 31-year-old, saying: “He always comes to training and is ready, fat and wanting to play “.

In the other match in the same group, Bulgaria will face Ireland.

In the other matches on Thursday, Russia will meet Serbia and Turkey with Hungary in the third group of the second level, Slovenia with Greece and Moldova with Kosovo in the third group of the third level, and Latvia with Andorra and the Faroe Islands with Malta in the first group of the fourth level.