The National’s Sport cover for the Thursday, October 9 issue, features the European champions Spain as they aim to continue their progress towards the 2016 European Championships in France with a group game against Slovakia on Thursday night.
A poor World Cup saw coach Vicente del Bosque refresh his squad and introduce new talents. Ahead of Thursday night’s game in Bratislava, we look at five of Spain’s new call-ups.
Juan Bernat (Bayern Munich)
Manchester United watched the Valencia left-back several times last season before concluding that, while he was excellent going forward, he was not as defensively sound as they had hoped. United signed Luke Shaw, 18, for £30 million (Dh177m) while Bernat, 21, joined Bayern Munich for €9 million (Dh41.8m) in June.
Francisco Alcacer (Valencia)
Diminutive striker Francisco “Paco” Alcacer, 21, enjoyed a breakthrough season last term, including a hat-trick against Basel in the Europa League.
Rodrigo Moreno (Valencia)
Valencia’s main close-season signing, Brazil-born striker Rodrigo, 23, arrived from Benfica on a loan deal having helped the Lisbon side win a treble. It was another move in a nomadic life spent following his father, a professional footballer.
Ander Iturraspe (Athletic Bilbao)
Athletic’s two midfield Anders have been the hub of their successful side in recent seasons. One, Herrera, has left, but the other, Iturraspe, 25, remains. He is the heart of the Basque side, distributing the ball and adding balance.
Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid)
Real Madrid fans were not impressed when Jose Mourinho allowed reserve full-back Carvajal to join Bayer Leverkusen for €5m in 2012.
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