The Spanish national team opened a new page after its disappointing adventure in the World Cup Qatar 2022 and started its campaign in the qualifiers for the European Cup 2024 with a big victory over its guest Norway 3-0 on Saturday, in the first round of Group A competitions.
Spain owes the three points to German Leipzig player Dani Olmo, who scored the first goal (13), in his sixth international goal, before substitute Joselo added two goals in his first international match within a few seconds of fatal time (84 and 85).
The champion and runner-up of each of the ten groups, in addition to three teams from the European Nations League and the host country, qualify directly for the finals scheduled for the summer of 2024 in Germany.
And after the "La Roja" team disappointed hopes in the World Cup in Qatar last year by leaving the final price against Morocco with a penalty shootout 0-3 after they tied negatively, the new coach, Luis de la Fuente (61 years), opened the new coach, who replaced Luis Enrique on the eighth of December. December, a new page in Malaga in front of Norway.
De la Fuente summoned 23 players, of whom only 11 played in the last edition of the World Cup finals, returning to the squad goalkeeper Kepa Arisabalaga, Nacho Fernandez, Yago Aspas and Fabian Royce.
On the other hand, Norway misses its first two matches of the qualifiers in Spain and Georgia for its giant star, Manchester City's English striker Erling Haaland, who suffered a thigh injury.
Spain opened the scoring after a ball reached Alvaro Morata and from him to Alex Badi, who controlled it and passed it in turn from the left inside the area. Olmo cut it with the outside of his right foot and hit it to the left of goalkeeper Orian Nilan (13).
Norway's most dangerous chances appeared in the first half after a cross pass from Alexander Sorloth on the right side was followed by Frederick Oceans "on the fly" and Arisabalaga turned it into a corner (29).
Olmo's replacement, Yeremi Pino, missed the opportunity to double the score in the second half after he hit a ball inside the area near the post after a pass from the other substitute, Daniel Ceballos (76), before Josilo added three minutes after he replaced Morata with two goals in a minute, the first from a header (84). The second with his left foot (85).
Norway's last victory over "La Roja" dates back to June 13, 2000, with a score of 1-0 in Rotterdam, at the start of the European Cup matches.
Within the same group, Scotland, with the ambition of reaching the finals for the second time in a row and only the fourth in its history, started its journey promisingly by defeating its guest, Cyprus, 3-0.
Scotland opened the scoring in the 21st minute through John McGinn (21), then waited until the last seconds to finally settle the points thanks to substitute Manchester United star Scott McTominay, who scored the second and third goals (87 and 90 + 3).
Spain topped the group with 3 points, equal with Scotland, while Georgia, absent from this round, ranked third in front of Norway and Cyprus without points.
In Group D, and in a renewed confrontation between two teams that met in the 2020 European Cup qualifiers, the Croatian team, the third in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, overcame its Welsh guest after conceding a 1-1 equalizer in stoppage time.
Croatia opened the scoring in the 28th minute through Andrei Kramaric, who manipulated Neco Williams with skill and advanced before firing the ball from the outskirts of the area into the left corner of Danny Ward's goal.
The result remained the same until injury time, when substitute Nathan Broadhead snatched the equalizer after a header pass from Marys Mepham (3 + 90).
Consequently, the Croatian national team failed to repeat its victory at home in the first leg of the 2020 qualifiers for the 2020 finals, with a score of 2-1, before they tied in the second leg 1-1 in the fifth group competitions, from which the two teams qualified, and the first in the lead, by a difference of three points.
In the same group, and despite the hostile atmosphere in Yerevan, Turkey managed to resolve its politically sensitive confrontation with its host Armenia 2-1, in a meeting during which it fell behind with a goal scored with friendly fire by its defender Ozan Kabak (10) before it responded with Orkon Kokcho (34) and Karim Akturkoglu. (64).
In Group Nine, Switzerland began its campaign to qualify for the sixth major finals in a row strongly, by defeating its "host" Belarus 5-0.
Switzerland has not missed the European Cup finals since 2012 and the World Cup since 2002, and it seems a strong candidate to obtain one of the two group nine cards to the German 2024 finals, and this was proven on Saturday in Serbian Novi Sad, where Belarus played in the first round due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Amid talk about the possibility of excluding Belarus from the qualifiers, similar to what happened with Russia, the Swiss, who reached the quarter-finals of the 2020 edition and the eighth final of the Qatar World Cup 2022, hit hard and settled the three points in the first half hour thanks to Renato Stephen’s hat-trick (4, 17 and 29), before they scored. Arsenal player Granit Xhaka adds the fourth (62) and substitute Zaki Amdouni fifth (65) in the second half.
Coach Murat Yakin's team hopes to confirm this strong start when it faces Tuesday at home with Israel, which tied Saturday with its guest Kosovo 1-1.
Switzerland topped the group with three points, with a goal difference from Romania, which defeated modest Andorra 2-0, scored by Dennis Mann (34) and Dennis Alibek (49).
And the match witnessed the expulsion of Andorra player Marc Rebes in the 61st minute.