Croatia vs Spain 2018 (Hrvatska Espana 2018)
Final score and result:- Croatia vs Spain 3-2 (Jedvaj*2, Kramaric/Ceballos, Ramos pen)
Makismir, Zagreb- 15 November, 2018
Tin Jedvaj scores twice for Croatia to leave their Nations Group finely poised ahead of their clash against England
New Spain manager Luis Enrique has named his first national squad for their upcoming games against England and Spain, and somewhat surprisingly (or unsurprisingly!), there is no space for Barcelona’s Jordi Alba. The left back allegedly fell out with Enrique during the latter’s term at the Nou Camp, and Alba’s comments that he “preferred Valverde to Enrique” have apparently not gone down well with Spain’s new manager, who has chosen to omit him from his first squad.
There are only TWO Barcelona players in Enrique’s squad- Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto. Five England based players have been called- Manchester United’s David de Gea and the Chelsea quartet of Kepa, Marcos Alonso, Azpi and Morata.
Luis Enrique’s first Spanish squad for games v England and Croatia in September 2018 (Sep 8 and Sep 11)
Goalkepeers: David de Gea (Man Utd), Kepa (Chelsea), Pau Lopez (Real Betis)
Here is a rather incredible stat for young French right back Benjamin Pavard who was a key member of Didier Deschamps’ victorious World Cup winning squad. As of July 15, 2018, the 22 year old has made 31 appearances for France at various levels, and has NEVER lost a game.
Has Pavard lost a game while playing for France?
Stats with French national team (after World Cup win v Croatia on 15 July, 2018).
He only made his debut for the national team in November 2017.
U19- 4 games, 4 victories
U21- 15 games, 12 victories, 3 draws
Senior- 12 games, 10 wins, 2 draws
Total:- Played 31, W26, D5