Spain have one final practice game before the European Championships and Northern Ireland play the role of opponents.
A Spanish Sendoff
After a spell of international failures in recent years, Spain could serve as one of the tournament dark horses in Germany.
The Dark Horse
With the final preparations for this summer’s European Championships now taking place, Spain’s final exercise is the visit of Northern Ireland on Saturday and with La Rioja having got the better of Andorra in midweek, a long-awaited international win came as something of a relief.
Admittedly the Andorran’s were never expected to put up much of a fight against their neighbours but with Luis de la Fuente’s men having failed to win any of their last two friendlies beforehand, any kind of win on Wednesday was always going to be celebrated.
Especially one where Spain recorded a clean sheet and even more so with five unanswered goals to go with it and for all the talk of issues in attack, a quintet of strikes at the Estadio Municipal Nuevo Vivero would have certainly served as a confidence booster.
Confidence that would certainly have been low after Spain’s shock exit at the 2022 Qatar World Cup and with Mikel Oyarzabal only appearing at the start of the second half in midweek, the Real Sociedad forward still had plenty of time to bag a hat-trick.
Not only was it a treble for the 27-year-old but it also goes some way to dispelling the myth regarding Spain’s lack of genuine firepower and although their attack has been firing blanks across the last few major international tournaments, their squad now has a number of hot shots within.
Now those Spanish attacking hot shots will look to increase the temperature at Mallorca’s Son Moix in a few hours and if this proves to be the case, it could be a long and difficult evening for their Northern Irish opponents.
Coming into this game, Michael O’Neill’s second stint as manager of the Northern Ireland national team has not been as inspiring as his first and from the first 12 games of this current tenure, the former Stoke boss has lost seven.
However, recent form has seen something of an uptick and when looking at Northern Ireland’s last three outings, they have managed to pick up impressive wins over both Denmark and Scotland while also earning a draw with Romania.
An upward tick in form but not one that allows the Northern Irish a ticket to Germany next week and with this side also facing Andorra in just a few days, it is that fixture where the Green and White Army will look for better fortunes.
But now it is time for the first of my two tips, and this should be a routine sendoff for the hosts on Saturday. Even if Spain were to concede, there is enough in the final third to absorb any generosity at the other end and I am backing the home win by a two-goal margin at odds of 10/3.
In addition to this, I am going to use that same two-goal margin for a correct score tip. Both teams get on the scoresheet, but Spain stroll to a 3-1 win and this outcome is currently priced at a rather inviting 11/1.
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