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Who Can Strike First in Spain’s 4-Man Euro 2016 Forward Battle?
- Updated: May 28, 2016
In theory, this is where Spain ramp up attempts to win a third European Championship in a row, but the team that takes to the field against Bosnia and Herzegovina in St Gallen, Switzerland, won’t bear much resemblance to the one that tries to win Euro 2016.
Sergio Ramos, Juanfran, Dani Carvajal, Koke, Isco, Saul Niguez and Lucas Vazquez—all named in the 25-man preliminary squad to go to France by Vicente Del Bosque—have other things on their mind this weekend and are currently around 135 miles away in Milan, leaving the way clear for some other names to impress the Spain boss.
As per FourFourTwo, as many as 10 uncapped players—including Rayo Vallecano defender Diego Llorente, Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin and Athletic Bilbao’s Inaki Williams—could feature for Spain in the northern Swiss canton, but this is as far as they’ll go.
After they are jettisoned, the final Euro 2016 squad ramps up their preparations against South Korea in Salzburg, Austria, and then Georgia in Getafe on June 7, three days before the tournament starts.
There’s much to play for, then, not least in the forward positions, where the decision to overlook Diego Costa and Fernando Torres has set up an intriguing four-way battle for Spanish supremacy.
Williams will hope to get some minutes against Bosnia, but even he knows he isn’t likely to force his way past the four forwards who have been selected in the 25-man squad, despite the fact they have just 17 international caps and two goals between them at this level.
But as a country that has had success without playing recognised forwards in the past, it is clear Spain are not worried by what some could see as a problem position and indeed a position that they could end up ignoring entirely.
Memories of Costa’s disastrous displays at the World Cup in his native Brazil are still too raw for La Roja, who saw the Chelsea forward flail about up front to little effect in the damaging defeats to the Netherlands and Chile.
Following the rigmarole of his switch to Spanish citizenship, he was seen as not the right type of fit for the type of football Spain played, with many calling for a return to the formation that won the Euro 2012 final against Italy, …
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