Lamine Yamal strengthened his Ballon d’Or claims with a superb early goal as Spain beat Czechia 3-1 in the Nations League in Oviedo.
The victory put the world champions three points clear of England at the top of Group A3 after Thomas Tuchel’s side had thrashed Croatia 7-0 in Rijeka on Saturday. It also extended Spain’s unbeaten run to 41 matches, including their World Cup final victory over Argentina in July.
Yamal opened the scoring in the sixth minute, cutting in from the right before curling an exquisite finish into the top corner. The 19-year-old has now scored inside the opening 10 minutes in three successive men’s internationals, a first in the history of the game.
It was the Barcelona winger’s 12th goal in his last nine matches for club and country, further enhancing his status as one of the leading candidates for the Ballon d’Or later this month.
“We’re doing well; I’m very happy. I was eager to return to the national team after the World Cup, and there’s no better way than this,” Yamal said.
Spain doubled their advantage after 35 minutes when Rodri arrived in the penalty area and drilled the ball into the top corner. It was the midfielder’s first goal for Spain in more than two years.
“It’s always special to score for the national team. I’d not been scoring many goals; let’s see if I’ve found that dynamic – it’s important, we all have to chip in with the goals,” Rodri said.
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente replaced Yamal at half-time to give him a rest before Tuesday’s meeting with Croatia, and the pace of the contest subsequently slowed.
Czechia reduced the deficit with 20 minutes remaining when Jiri Slama sent a low finish across David Raya after being played through by Adam Hlozek. Raya was later fortunate not to be punished after giving the ball away while out of his goal.
The visitors appeared to have equalised when Ryan Naderi turned in a loose ball, but the effort was ruled out for a foul on Robin Le Normand.
Czechia’s hopes were then damaged when Ladislav Krejci was sent off for a second yellow card after pulling back Spain debutant Roberto Fernandez. Mikel Merino completed Spain’s victory late on.
De la Fuente said Yamal continued to exceed expectations. “I think he never stops surprising us – I think all of us. He has so much talent, so much quality, that we still haven’t seen the best version of Lamine by a long shot,” he said.
Rodri described Czechia as a well-organised opponent after Spain claimed their third win from three group matches. “It was tricky but we got some chances. There are some matches in which you can’t generate that much, but the team was able to manage the match,” he said.
