Spain was not against the ropes but was beginning to see them. Spain was not in an extreme situation but vertigo was beginning to knock on the door. Spain had room for maneuver but minimal. And Spain was waiting for statements and judges but fortunately it had not forgotten to play soccer. Luis de la Fuente took a breath and the red team took a step forward to return to the good path that will lead them to next summer's Euro Cup with a resounding win in Georgia when things were looking worst. Spain spoke on the field, which is where it performs best. And let it last.
With the Rubiales matter shelved, but not settled, the team was finally able to express itself with the ball and put the pen in the drawer. And it was quite a spectacle. The national team traveled to the Georgian capital without boots or gloves but with many doubts and returned to Spain with pride intact and the Scottish defeat definitively erased, with the passport for the European Championship once again in their hands.
The coach did not make any inventions, aware of what was at stake in Boris Paichadze, as spirited and boisterous as usual. But Spain put it out with goals, all of them a product of good play and the impeccable attitude with which the internationals faced one of those clashes classified as a trap.
A very serious Spanish team was seen from the beginning. Very patient with the ball and finding space easily as the minutes passed. Rodri, imperial, was the common thread but Fabián confirmed De la Fuente's bet and became another of the pillars of the Spanish team.
The festival began with the opening whistle, already demanded by a Mamardashvili surpassed by Asensio in the opening minute. Olmo shot high and Le Normand was not in tune with his head. Georgia tried to show itself as a very vertical and fast team but there was no trace of Kvaratskhelia, the Spanish defense was just as concentrated as the rest of the lines and the technical deficiencies of the great Willy Sagnol's team were obvious.
The scoring tap finally opened midway through the first half. There was no other way out of the duel given the insulting superiority of the visiting team. And it was a great goal. Asensio crossed with that privileged left foot that he looks like and Morata jumped like a colossus above the Georgian centre-backs to execute a textbook diving header. With the faucet open, water began to gush out. Fabián, a dagger playing on the left with his natural leg, centered and Kverkvelia placed the ball in his own net. The next play, the Andalusian completed a beautiful maneuver and beat Mamardashvili again, although the VAR annulled his goal due to one of those insulting offsides by the millimeter.
But for a while the Valencia goalkeeper couldn't cope. The water came from everywhere. Olmo tried Vaseline but he didn't get it right. Georgia was a special visit for him, where one of his cannon shots went around the world in 2021. He also decided to repeat yesterday, with a double shot that became the third of the afternoon. Between Iguazú and Niagara, the waterfall continued to make its way to the admiration of everyone. Fabián stole in the final third, exchanged the ball with Morata and the captain certified the fourth.
The end of the first half had a somewhat bitter taste with Olmo and Asensio leaving the field due to physical problems, opening wide the doors to Lamine Yamal's record of precocity, later becoming almost legendary thanks to his goal, the seventh .
Already with the downpour, of water, in its full expression, Georgia cut back as soon as she left the locker room, indicated Unai Simón before Chakvetadze's shot that raised the decibels of the stadium for a few minutes. They went out very quickly. Morata signed his hat-trick and Nico Williams signed his great game, sealing the set in a flash. Visibly relieved, De la Fuente smiled on the bench. His team's goals were pure life for him. Also the last of the beardless Yamal. The afternoon had been round. Nobody and nothing could stain the green. Not even the thunderous echoes of the ugly Rubiales affair.
