Pedri Gonzalez double as Spain ease to 5-1 win over Northern Ireland
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Spain's Pedri Gonzalez with his teammates after scoring one of his two goals in the match against Northern Ireland, on June 8.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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MALLORCA – Pedri Gonzalez hailed La Roja’s wingers as he struck twice for Spain as they thumped Northern Ireland 5-1 on June 8 in their final friendly ahead of Euro 2024.
Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Mikel Oyarzabal also netted for Luis de la Fuente’s side in Mallorca, with wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal oozing menace on the flanks.
Pedri told AS: “It’s spectacular to play with Nico Williams and Lamine, especially today, they give great width. You know that a ball into space is going to arrive and it’s very comfortable to play with the two of them.”
Spain, in a European Championship “group of death” with Italy, Croatia and Albania, are aiming to win the title for the fourth time.
“I’ve worked hard to be in good shape at the end of the season,” Pedri told Radio Marca.
The 21-year-old playmaker was out injured for a large part of the season but has hit top form in the final weeks of the campaign.
“Injuries are the worst thing about football, now I am doing a lot better,” he added. “We’ll go for (the Euro), with the idea of winning.”
De la Fuente added: “The best version of Pedri we don’t know where he is, because he’s so good. We expect so much from him that it’s infinite.”
Spain thrashed Andorra 5-0 in a friendly earlier last week before dismantling Northern Ireland, who did not qualify for the Euro.
The visitors surprised Spain by taking the lead through Dan Ballard, who headed home a Caolan Boyd-Munce free kick after just two minutes.
Isaac Price came close to a second before Spain recovered their poise and took complete control.
Pedri pulled Spain level with a low drive from the edge of the box, before Morata nodded La Roja ahead from Jesus Navas’ cross.
Barcelona midfielder Pedri struck again after a neat move and Ruiz headed home Yamal’s cross for the fourth.
The second half was a calmer affair, although Oyarzabal did net Spain’s fifth after electric 16-year-old Barcelona winger Yamal set him up.
“We came out a bit too relaxed with their goal, we can’t make those type of mistakes, above all in the Euro, it will teach us a lesson,” said Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Ruiz.
“We have to note the attitude of the team, we turned the score around and we were brave.”
Spain won the Euro in 2008 and 2012 but largely struggled since then until lifting the Nations League trophy in 2023.
De la Fuente’s side face Croatia in their opening Group B fixture in Berlin on June 15, a day after the tournament in Germany begins.
Meanwhile, Denmark wrapped up their Euro 2024 preparations with a 3-1 win over Norway at Brondby Stadium that saw Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg score for the third international game in a row, with Erling Haaland grabbing a consolation goal for the visitors.
Midfielder Hojbjerg got proceedings under way with a powerful right-foot strike in the 12th minute, and the Danes added a second when defender Jannik Vestergaard headed home Andreas Skov Olsen’s corner nine minutes later.
With Denmark making a slew of second-half changes, Haaland scored on 72 minutes when a superb Martin Odegaard pass teed him up to reduce the deficit.
Yussuf Poulsen netted a third in second-half stoppage time to give the Danes the perfect send-off as they head to Germany, where they will face Slovenia, England and Serbia in Group C, with the Slovenians up first in Stuttgart on June 16. AFP, REUTERS
