MADRID, June 7 — Spain travels to Mexico on Sunday ahead of its second and final warm-up match before the World Cup finals, with coach Luis de la Fuente likely to field a team similar to the one that will kick off its campaign against Cabo Verde on June 15.
The Spanish will make a three-hour flight to face Peru in Puebla, only three days after travelling to their base camp in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Friday.
The Mexican city presents an extra challenge to De la Fuente’s men, given that it sits at around 2,100 meters altitude, with Spain having no time to adapt ahead of Monday’s match.
De la Fuente rested most of his likely starters in the 1-1 draw with Iraq on Thursday, but players such as Mikel Oyarzabal, Pedri, Rodrigo Hernandez, Pau Cubarsi, Marcos Llorente and Marc Cucurella, who took no part in that match, will all get time against Peru.
So will Champions League finalists Martin Zubimendi, David Raya and Fabian Ruiz, while Mikel Merino also needs to accumulate minutes after a long spell out with the ankle injury he suffered in February.
The Spain coach has insisted the injured duo of Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal should be fit to play against Cabo Verde, and both are expected to join group training sessions next week, although neither will play on Monday.
He also said after the Iraq game that he knew the 11 who would start against Cabo Verde, which means whoever starts in goal on Monday will almost certainly start on June 15.
Joan Garcia was at fault for Iraq’s goal on Thursday and looked nervous on a couple of other occasions in that game.
Unai Simon looks set to be the first choice again for De la Fuente, although David Raya can also expect some time on Monday as the buildup begins to get serious. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
