{"id":15473,"date":"2026-11-11T23:00:46","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T23:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/spain-coach-optimistic-over-yamals-fitness-for-england-nations-league-clash\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T23:00:46","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T23:00:46","slug":"spain-coach-optimistic-over-yamals-fitness-for-england-nations-league-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/spain-coach-optimistic-over-yamals-fitness-for-england-nations-league-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain coach optimistic over Yamal\u2019s fitness for England Nations League clash"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Spain<\/p>\n

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said Wednesday he is optimistic Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal will be fit to face England in the Nations League at the weekend.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old winger will miss the world champions\u2019 visit to face the Czech Republic in Prague on Thursday with a knee problem and is set to join up with Spain after that game.<\/p>\n

Yamal played for Barcelona in the 2-1 La Liga win over Atletico Madrid on Sunday and on Monday Spain said he would not travel to face the Czechs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got hurt in the last match, he had some discomfort in one knee, he went for the usual treatment, a scan in Barcelona, and they saw he had inflammation and fluid in the knee \u2014 that meant he needed rest,\u201d De la Fuente told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur medical staff and his medical staff have a fantastic relationship, and I decided that his trip here should be avoided without knowing whether he\u2019d be in any condition to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coach said he had spoken to the winger and his recovery was looking positive ahead of England\u2019s visit to Madrid on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing a series of exercises with his physio and with the club that indicate the recovery is going well,\u201d continued De la Fuente.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe, I\u2019m optimistic, that on Friday he\u2019ll be with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

De la Fuente dismissed the idea that Yamal, who came third in the Ballon d\u2019Or voting in October, has any special privileges compared to his La Roja team-mates.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has no privileges, and his team-mates are relaxed about it, because we treat everyone the same,\u201d added the coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn similar situations we would have done exactly the same for any other player, and the players know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Unstoppable run \u2013<\/h2>\n

Spain have won all four games so far in Group A3 and sealed qualification to the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

De la Fuente\u2019s side are unbeaten in their last 43 competitive outings, and the coach said it provided his team with extra motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to keep setting new milestones, and this is another one,\u201d explained De la Fuente.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us would probably ever have thought we\u2019d even reach 35, because we already felt those were astronomical numbers, but having reached 43, you think, my goodness, we want to get to 44, of course we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spain won their previous outing away in Croatia with a brace from Arsenal\u2019s Mikel Merino.<\/p>\n

The midfielder is frequently used as a substitute by De la Fuente to great effect, with Merino netting vital goals against Portugal and Belgium in the World Cup off the bench this summer.<\/p>\n

Merino said he would like to be a starter for Spain but he would not kick up a fuss.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, what player wouldn\u2019t like to get (more) minutes?\u201d Merino told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll never hear me complain about the coach\u2019s decision, I will respect it\u2026 but all players want to be important, have minutes and enjoy themselves on the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Spain coach optimistic over Yamal\u2019s fitness for England Nations League clash<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said Wednesday he is optimistic Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal will be fit to face England in the Nations League at the weekend. The 19-year-old… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}