Match Report: Spain U-19 2 – Switzerland U-19 1

Published on May 31, 2011 by David Cartlidge · 2 Comments

Spain U-19 won 2-1 this evening in their opening game of the Elite Round of qualifying for the European Championships, against a Swiss side who were flattered by the score line.

The young Spanish side had been dealt a treble blow in recent says, with the omission of attacking midfielders Luis Alberto and Rafinha, while hugely promising striker Paco Alcacer also withdrew.

Nevertheless, the patched up XI started extremely brightly and found themselves a goal up within five minutes. Pablo Sarabia, one of the late call-ups, made himself available on his right flank, before cutting inside past his marker and delivering a dangerous back post cross which Juanmi nudged home with his head.

Afterwards Spain let their technical prowess take controls, as they kept the ball superbly and made simple passes into dangerous areas, always making the Swiss backline work. Koke was leading well in the midfield, sitting deeper than his colleagues spraying the ball to Sarabia, and Sergi Roberto just ahead of him – Ruben Pardo was also adding an extra presence in the middle, as he too showed neat touches.

Despite all the possession Spain couldn’t add to their lead; Sarabia was the brightest on show in the first half though, consistently beating his marker for pace, and skill, while delivering decent crosses and basic passes each time.

The graphic on screen showed at half-time Spain had 80% possession, with the Swiss staggering on a weak 20 % – but still, there was only the one goal between them.

As the second half progressed it was much of the same story, with Spain in control but never over committing which made it difficult for Switzerland to gain momentum. The introduction of Isco, not starting due to club commitments just a few days ago, gave an indication that Lopetigu wanted more incisiveness in the final third.

By this the time the Swiss were pressing more and several balls into the area were only narrowly missing their targets – it was countering on one of these attacks, that Spain profited further. Isco came away from his own area making a good 40-40 yard run before slipping a disguise pass into Juanmi, before the Málaga man returned the pass to Isco who stabbed home. It was a breathless move, and was a fine example of pace and skill.

Switzerland grabbed a late goal after a deep free-kick was played in, and keeper Edgar Badía didn’t deal with it well enough as Jordi Amat diverted past his own goalkeeper into the net – but Switzerland’s late efforts afterwards gained no reward.

A promising start to the tournament from the young Spanish, but they will be looking to be more clinical in upcoming games.

Spain: Edgar Badía; Albert Blázquez (Carvajal, 88), Jordi Amat, Sergi Gómez, Marc Muniesa, Koke, Rubén Pardo (Isco, 68), Sergi Roberto, Juanmi, Pablo Sarabia (Gerard Deulofeu , 81) y Álvaro Morata.