Spain's U-21 National Team Prepares for Friendly Against Romania
MADRID, Sep 22. (EUROPA PRESS) -
The Spanish U-21 national team will face Romania in a friendly match on Friday, as both teams prepare for the 2023 European Championship in Georgia and Romania. This will be their first encounter in September against one of the host teams.
Luis de la Fuente's team comes well-prepared after securing their spot in the continental competition, which will take place from June 9 to July 2, 2023. They finished as leaders of Group C, with seven victories and a match not played against Russia, who were eliminated from the competition due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Now, with nothing at stake, the U-21 team heads to Cluj Napoca, the venue for a match that could mark the debut of up to five players with 'la Rojita'. Among them is FC Barcelona defender Alejandro Balde, one of the main additions to the squad after his meteoric rise under the orders of Xavi Hernández.
Alongside him, the Riojan coach has also called up Girona right-back Arnau Martínez, Granada defender Ricard Sánchez, Lazio's Mario Gila, and UD Las Palmas midfielder Alberto Moleiro for the first time. Moleiro is one of the young talents who is shining and could be on FC Barcelona's radar.
De la Fuente will take this opportunity to make more trials less than a year before the Eurocup. A mix of experienced players and newcomers, such as forward Abel Ruiz (Braga), winger Bryan Gil (Tottenham), who will try to regain his smile that he cannot show at his club, full-back Juan Miranda (Betis), and midfielder Sergio Gómez (Manchester City), who also has less prominence after joining the Premier League champions.
Alongside them are players who are starting to emerge in La Liga, such as Alex Baena, who has started the season like a bullet with six goals and two assists in 10 matches, and winger Rodrigo Riquelme, who has made the leap to Girona after his debut with the U-21 team a few months ago as a player for Mirandés.
One of the most contested positions is the right-back, which will be contested between Ricard Sánchez (Granada CF) and Arnau Martínez, both former Barcelona players and former U-19 internationals.
On the other side, Romania has been going through a rough patch, having only won one match in nearly a year. As one of the hosts of the European Championship, they hope to improve their performance after not participating in the qualifying matches and losing in friendlies against Mexico, Italy, Georgia, and Slovakia.