Spain debuted with a victory against local Slovakia (2-3) in the U-21 European Championship. Santi Denia's team managed to start the tournament on the right foot thanks to the goals of Marc Pubill, Mateo Joseph and César Tárrega, the latter in the last minute of the match. Gerard Martín and Pablo Torre were starters in 'La Rojita', but they were not very fortunate.
The Selection imposed conditions from the start, managing to open the scoring when only the initial quarter of an hour had passed. Pubill, Almería's full-back, put Spain ahead after a powerful shot from Javi Guerra straight to the crossbar. The rebound fell to Diego López, who gave it to Marc as he caught him entering free as a 'false 9' through the center of the area.
Spain struck Slovakia again, with little football and a strong leg two minutes later, thanks to a good filtered pass from Juanlu and the remarkable definition of Mateo Joseph, who responded as a reference in the area.
Gerard Martín was replaced after the break due to a hand injury
In defense, La Rojita held the zero until halftime without too many problems. Gerard Martín dislocated the little finger of his right hand after a bad fall in the initial minutes. At halftime, Santi Denia decided to put Hugo Bueno in his place and Slovakia reacted with two goals as soon as the match restarted.
Kopásek, in the 48th minute and Suslov, from a penalty in the 53rd, tied the match in the blink of an eye. Bueno caused the 1-2 after a communication error with Mosquera, while Hugo himself, with a reckless mistimed tackle, caused the penalty for the equalizer.
In this way, the Feyenoord full-back messed up twice in just eight minutes on the field. Despite the double blow, Spain maintained the draw and, in the last minute of regular time, Tárrega made it 2-3 with an accurate header after a corner served by Raúl Moro.
Pablo Torre, in doubt for the match against Romania due to a muscular problem
Before the winning goal, in the 60th minute, Pablo Torre had to be replaced due to a muscle strain after a strong tackle from a rival. The Cantabrian wore the '10' of the Selection and was very active as an attacking midfielder, accompanied by López and Juanlu.
However, he was only on the field for an hour and is doubtful for the second match, next Saturday against Romania (18:00 CEST), although the change seemed preventive due to the severity of the blow and the player's difficulty in running. Gerard, on the other hand, will surely return to the XI with a bandage on his hand.
The Soto de la Marina native prioritizes having a good tournament in Slovakia, as this can be of great help in finding a team this summer. Faced with the 'overbooking' of midfielders in the Barça squad, Torre has been left without a place in Hansi Flick's plans.