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UEFA Nations League: Spanish media hails new approach after ‘five years of progressive deterioration’

Football

By AFP | Sep 10, 2018

**Spain's Saul Niguez celebrates scoring their first goal against England [Courtesy]**

“This is the new Spain”, hailed the country’s top sports daily Marca, after Luis Enrique’s new dawn began with an affirming 2-1 win over England at Wembley on Saturday.

Spain dropped to ninth in the Fifa rankings, three places below England, after their World Cup defeat to Russia but there was little doubting the more dominant team in London.

The excellent Saul Niguez, who cancelled out Marcus Rashford’s opener, was the stand-out performer while Rodrigo Moreno’s winner brought a rush of Spanish optimism for the future under their new coach.

“Luis Enrique has started big, with a victory at Wembley,” wrote Madrid daily, Diario AS. “A triumph that opens the Nations League and closes the nightmare of the World Cup.”

His promise was for evolution not revolution and Spain delivered, combining possession with spontaneity and precision, the type of which was so lacking during their stilted performances in Russia.

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“Spain has not lost the touch (and it should not) but aims to be much more versatile,” wrote Marca. “The team was more vertical and much more aggressive without the ball. They used high pressure and England suffered.”

Luis Enrique’s task is not only to tweak but convince the players, and fans, that adjustment is the best way forward. Victories will bring belief.

“It is a game that reinforces us in a special way,” Spain’s new coach said. “Because not every day do you win in a stadium like this.”

Barcelona daily, Mundo Deportivo, noted Luis Enrique’s dynamism on the touchline: “The Spaniard put his stamp on the team from the first minute. He spent the game standing, giving instructions, correcting, screaming, suffering and applauding from the bench.”

El Pais attached a wider significance to the contest, circling it as a fork in the road for La Roja. “Few decisions in the recent history of Spanish football have had as much weight as the first game of Luis Enrique,” it wrote. “After five years of progressive deterioration of the style that put the team at the top of the world, the hope of a return to greatness had dissipated.”

Among the innovations was Saul, who “personified the change after being wasted in Russia”, according to Marca, with the Atletico Madrid midfielder drawing praise from all corners of the Spanish press.

“Saul showed the injustice of his World Cup ostracism because he was the best,” crowed AS. “He was the leader of the team.”

Luis Enrique agreed. “Saul has a beast of a physique, he’s smart, he’s a very complete player,” he said.

This was also an examination for the old as well as the new.