Luis de la Fuente said he wanted a new jumper for his birthday but this was even better. On the day the Spain coach turned 65, his players gifted him the perfect afternoon in Atlanta, the doubts from their opener blown away. Unable to find a way through in 97 minutes here against Cape Verde, this time they had celebrated putting three goals past Saudi Arabia before the first drinks break. Life is there to be enjoyed, Lamine Yamal had said, so they did. By the end it was four and it couldn’t have worked out any nicer.
This was exactly the way the coach would have wished it. Lamine Yamal scoring 10 minutes into his first start since suffering a hamstring injury in April. Mikel Oyarzabal adding two more in the first “quarter”, Marc Cucurella forcing the fourth on 49, victory secured so early that De la Fuente could withdraw those players who needed protecting and give minutes to those that needed them, Mikel Merino and Nico Williams invited to join the party too. Unai Simón was the last to arrive, not making a significant save until the 80th minute.
