Luis de la Fuente named a 27-player Spain squad on Friday, 6 November, for the final Nations League group matches away to Czechia and at home to England. The Spanish federation’s announcement includes four goalkeepers: Unai Simón, David Raya, Joan García and Álvaro Valles. Como defender Jacobo Ramón is also among the selected players.
At his official press conference at the Metropolitano, the coach connected the four-goalkeeper choice with matters Raya needed to resolve, while praising Valles’s performances. He did not identify those matters as a particular injury or personal circumstance. The published explanation therefore does not support attaching a diagnosis or a more specific reason to Raya’s situation.
De la Fuente described Ramón’s club season and under-21 work as reasons why this was a suitable opportunity to assess him closely. The squad also includes midfield options Pedri, Fabián Ruiz and Martín Zubimendi, with Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal and Nico Williams among the attackers. Inclusion establishes the selected group, rather than a confirmed starting eleven or allocation of minutes.
Spain visit Prague on Thursday, 12 November, before hosting England at the Metropolitano on Sunday, 15 November. Both matches begin at 8.45pm Central European Time. Twelve points from four games have already secured a quarter-final place, but the coach stressed finishing first in the group. Qualification and the final position are consequently separate questions, with the latter still tied to the coming fixtures.
Archival cover photograph: Metropolitano stadium in Madrid in an archival photograph; not from the current event. Photographer/creator: Fernandopascullo. Image source and metadata; CC BY-SA 4.0. Image date as recorded by source: 2018-02-10 12:26:50. Source file used without raster edits.
