1-0: Spain U21 and Marc Pubill triumph at the Power Horse Stadium
The national team put in a commanding attacking display with many chances. Finally, in the 89th minute, Mateo Joseph scored the winning goal. The UD Almería player made his debut as a starter and played a great game, even having a goal-scoring opportunity
Spain U21 beat Belgium U21 in a crucial match in the fight for qualification for the next 2025 Euro Cup. UD Almería players Marc Pubill played a great game for the Spanish squad. The Spaniards were the ones that whipped in the most chances and in the 89th minute, Joseph grabbed the winning goal.
Spain U21 returned to the Power Horse Stadium to play a crucial match against Belgium U21, a qualification match for the next 2025 European Championship. This is the fourth match that the national team has played in this Stadium, three of them with La Rojita featuring and one played by La Roja. The most recent was a friendly that the under-21s played just a year ago against Switzerland U21.
Although the stands at Power Horse Stadium did not reach their full capacity, due in part to the unseasonal weather, with strong gusts of wind, and also to the fact that it was a weekday and in the middle of the Easter holiday, nearly 6,000 spectators came to witness the game between the Spaniards and the Belgians. One of the main incentives was the presence of UD Almería right-back Marc Pubill, who started the match. In addition, Fermín, a player from FC Barcelona, Barrios, from Atlético de Madrid, Beñat Turrientes, from Real Sociedad and Diego López, from Valencia also featured.
The match went as expected. It was a highly competitive game as indicated in the qualifying table before the start of the match. Both teams were tied with 13 points; Spain U21 in first place, although with one game in hand, while the Belgian outfit sit third.
The clearest chance of the first half hour was from Pubill, the UD Almería player armed his right leg from the corner and had Vandevoordt intervene to clear it for a corner. This attempt by the right-back encouraged the Spanish and they began to create a lot of danger in the attacking third, however, at the end of the first forty-five minutes the result would be 0-0.
In the second half, the game picked up a little more pace and in fact, Spain U21 took the lead thanks to Diego López's goal, but this goal was chalked off due to a possible offside. The Spaniards kept trying until the end, knowing the importance of the encounter, but the minutes went by and the goal did not come. Finally, Mateo Joseph grabbed the match-winning goal that sealed victory for La Rojita.