Ferran Torres scored twice as Spain cruised to a 6-0 victory over Cyprus in a Euro 2024 Group A qualifying match on Tuesday. Lamine Yamal, a youthful talent from Barcelona, became his country’s youngest-ever starter at the age of 16 years and 61 days.
It was another first for Spain’s Yamal, who set a record on Friday when he made his international debut in a 7-1 victory away to Georgia and becoming his country’s youngest ever international player and goalscorer in the process.
Once again, he was explosive on the right flank, and he generated many opportunities for his team before being replaced early in the second half. One of those possibilities was a curling shot that struck the post in the 39th minute. The goal was scored by Alvaro Morata off of the rebound, but the goal was disallowed by the video assistant referee because of an offsides violation.
However, Spain’s goals in the first half came from assists made by Nico Williams, a teenage winger from Athletic Bilbao who is 21 years old. Williams is one of Spain’s most promising young players.
Both of Spain’s goals came from crosses delivered by Williams. Williams had a shot from close range that was stopped by goalie Joel Mall a little later in the game. Gavi scored the first goal for Spain in the 18th minute, giving them an early lead, and Mikel Merino scored the second goal in the 30th minute.
Joselu, who came on as a substitute, scored the third goal for Spain with a header in the 70th minute. Torres, Alex Baena, and Torres once more completed Spain’s demolition job with close-range goals.
After four matches, Spain is currently in second place in Group A with nine points. They are now six points behind the leaders Scotland, but they have a game in hand.
“We made two well-worked matches, we have been lucky enough to score a lot of goals which are important at the end of the group stage as a tie-breaker,” defender Robin Le Normand said in an interview with TVE. “We made two well-worked matches.”
“These are the types of games that appear to be simple, but you have to be concentrated on defense every minute of the game because your opponent is looking for that one chance to score.
“You could be there standing still for an hour, but then a ball would come, and you would have to stop it.” We are going to be really glad when we get back home.”