Martin Zubimendi earns depleted Spain a 1-0 Nations League win over Denmark

MURCIA – Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was left red-faced as a second-half strike by midfielder Martin Zubimendi gave an injury-hit Spain a 1-0 win in the Nations League on Oct 12.

Missing seven of the starters who beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in July, Spain dominated proceedings in Murcia but it was not until the 79th minute that they managed to find the winner as Zubimendi netted his first goal for his country.

The Real Sociedad midfielder unleashed a first-time shot from the edge of the box that deflected off a defender before squirming under Schmeichel, who should have kept it out.

It helped justify coach Luis de la Fuente’s pre-match comments that Zubimendi was the second-best holding midfielder in the world, after the injured Rodri.

De la Fuente added after the match: “With his goal the attention will go up but his play, the fact that he’s got a computer in his brain means we are privileged to have him at a time when Rodri will be out for a while.”

Zubimendi told broadcaster RTVE: “In the first half, we didn’t play our best football.

“We left some spaces open in the back that they exploited and could have hurt us but we fixed it in the second half, locked them up and got the job done.”

Spain lead Group A4 at the halfway mark with seven points from their three games, followed by the Danes on six and Serbia on four, with Switzerland bottom with no points.

They were missing Dani Carvajal and Rodri due to serious knee injuries, while key players such as Nico Williams, Dani Olmo and Robin le Normand were also absent.

They controlled the game but were wasteful, missing several chances to open the scoring, and were exposed on the counter, with goalkeeper David Raya making two brilliant saves from efforts by Kasper Dolberg.

Zubimendi and Alex Grimaldo wasted promising half-chances early in the game, while captain Alvaro Morata missed a couple of clear opportunities later on.

The hosts should have led at the break but Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal missed an easy chance in the last action of the first half when he took a pass from Pedro Porro in his stride but blasted the ball over the bar.

Spain came out livelier in the second half and took the lead with a little help from Schmeichel, who had made two magnificent saves to deny close-range efforts by Morata.

Yet when the ball was flung into the box, Schmeichel appealed for what he thought was a foul by Mikel Merino on Victor Nelsson and was then caught off guard as Zubimendi’s deflected effort slipped through the distracted goalkeeper’s grasp. 

Said Nelsson: “Before this match, we felt that we could win against Spain in Copenhagen (on Nov 15). That belief has definitely gone up.

“Counter-attacks, set pieces, when we keep the ball a little, there’s a lot of space. They are not so organised when they attack.”

In the group’s other match, Serbia beat Switzerland 2-0 to earn their first victory on Oct 12, while the visitors missed a penalty and fell to their third successive defeat of the competition.

A Nico Elvedi own goal and an Aleksandar Mitrovic strike secured the three points for Serbia. REUTERS