Spain closed its participation in the group stage of the Nations League in the best possible way. La Roja achieved a last-minute victory against Switzerland (3-2), qualifying for the quarter-finals of the competition with a record of 5 wins and 1 draw. With three FC Barcelona players in its XI (Pau Cubarsí, Pedri and Marc Casadó), the national team achieved an unbeaten record in the first round of the tournament.
The match was a ‘recital’ for the Spaniards from the first minute, with Pedri being one of the main protagonists of the first half. The Canary Islander gave a scare after receiving a stomp on the knee from which he recovered without problems.
He also had direct responsibility for the first goal of the night. The Tenerife native missed his penalty shot, but the rebound was caught by Yeremy Pino to open the scoring and send both teams to the locker room with a partial victory for the home team.
Bryan Gil, the unexpected hero of the night
After returning from the break, the Swiss team stepped up and managed to equalise in the 63rd minute through Monteiro. However, Luis de la Fuente‘s men were able to recover from the blow and went ahead again on the scoreboard just five minutes later thanks to a goal from the recently substituted Bryan Gil, who came on from the bench at the Rodríguez López.
The Swiss team did not throw in the towel and in the 85th minute they achieved final equality with a goal from Zeqiri, who converted his shot from the eleven metres after a foul committed inside the area by Fabián Ruíz. However, Bryan Zaragoza also dictated the sentence from the eleven metres with 2 minutes left in the match and gave the victory to a Spain that qualifies for the next stage of the Nations League with an ‘almost’ perfect performance.