The qualification for the quarterfinals of the European Championship is decided today at the Brentford Community Stadium in London. In the same scenario in which they fell to Germany (2-0), the red team faces a Denmark that only wins to qualify. Jorge Vilda's Spain starts with an advantage as both a draw and a victory would classify them as second in the group due to goal difference in their favour. But in the locker room they don't want to speculate, especially after having started the two group stage games conceding in the first minutes of the game. "If we go out to speculate, I am convinced that it would go wrong," said the Spanish coach, who explained that these days have affected how to solve these match starts to have greater security.
And it is that ahead of them a Denmark awaits them that in the last European Championship (2017) reached the final, in which they lost to the Netherlands, eliminating Germany itself. A selection with proper names such as Pernille Harder, Nadia Nadim, Signe Bruun or Real Madrid player Sofie Svava. "It has many facets and controls them all," Vilda warned about a rival whose "competitive nature" she also highlighted. "Many games he has won in the last few minutes, so we can't trust each other," she said.
In Spain the main doubt is Laia Aleixandri. The central converted into '6' by Jorge Vilda withdrew from the match against Germany due to hamstring discomfort and on Thursday he trained alone. Yesterday an MRI was done and he did part of the session with the group. Vilda explained that, if nothing happens, he will be available, but his presence in the eleven is not guaranteed. In case of not arriving on time, it will be necessary to see if the coach chooses to bring back Irene Guerrero, who he did not convince in the debut against Finland, or if he delays Mariona Caldentey.
The other aspect for which Vilda must find a solution is the lack of goals. Spain is the team that accumulates the most shots (45), ahead of France (43) and England (42), but against Germany it was evident that a formula has not been found to cover the absence of Jenni Hermoso. Esther González did not work in the first game, and the participation of offensive players like Athenea del Castillo or Claudia Pina has been testimonial. The azulgrana Pina, the youngest in the team, is one of the players with the most goals in the squad. She won the Golden Boot in the U-17 World Cup that Spain won in 2018, last season she scored 15 goals in the League with Barça. Despite the fact that she feels more comfortable as a midfielder, Vilda does not rule out using her as a center forward to exploit that goalscoring nose. “There may be changes in the eleven”, she warned yesterday.
Although historically the Danish national team has resisted the red team (9 defeats and 3 draws), the distance has been reducing little by little until last summer Spain managed to beat Denmark for the first time in a friendly in Alcorcón at the Vilda's team prevailed 3-0, with a brace from Aitana Bonmatí and a goal from Patri Guijarro.
