Spain heading to Qatar with the aim of adding a second star

Spain heading to Qatar with the aim of adding a second star

| sport

The squad gathered on Monday at Las Rozas and will head to the Middle East on Tuesday

The 26 players who represent 47 million Spaniards at the Qatar World Cup arrived at Las Rozas on Monday. Luis Enrique was waiting and his hope for this winter is at its maximum. The hour to compete has arrived and the team are ready to try and win the World Cup again, 12 years after their one and only triumph in South Africa.

Only six players in the Spain squad know what it’s like to play at a World Cup - Carvajal, Alba, Azpilicueta, Busquets, Koke and Asensio. The rest are debutants, with youthful joy and excitement.

Aymeric Laporte arrived with a plaster on his face after the blow he received in his last City game. Some players spoke, others preferred to wait.

The team will leave Las Rozas on Tuesday for Aman, on a flight set to take off around 3pm. They will play a friendly in Jordan before heading to Qatar on Friday morning,.

“Come back with the second star,” asked Jose Manuel Franco, the secretary of state for sport and Victor Francos, the secretary general for culture and sport.

Luis Enrique’s squad is the second youngest at the tournament with an average age of 25.6 years, behind USA who are 25.2. The only countries with an average age under 26.

That’s the shirt number Pedri will wear, at 19 years old, while Ansu Fati is 18, and wears the 25.

Spain face Costa Rica in their opening game at Al Thumama in Doha, after spending a few days acclimatising to the heat and country, and training.

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