De La Fuente: Yamal and Oyarzabal support Spain against England

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said that his team will restore the services of strikers Lamine Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal before facing England in the European Nations League on Sunday, after the duo missed the 2-0 win over the Czechs on Thursday.

Yamal remained at Barcelona to recover from a knee injury.

De la Fuente added to Spanish television channel La 1: “Lamine feels much better now and is very much looking forward to joining the team.”

Oyarzabal remained in San Sebastian, the home base of his team Real Sociedad, to attend the birth of his second child. De la Fuente confirmed that he will also participate in the training session that Spain will participate in on Friday evening.

“Mikel and Yamal will arrive, one at midday and the other a little later, but they will be with us,” De La Fuente said.

Spain leads Group C of the first level, three points behind England, and needs at least a draw to guarantee top spot in the group.

The two teams have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the tournament.

England coach Thomas Tuchel confirmed his support for Ben White after the defender was booed when he entered as a substitute in the match that ended with England's 2-1 victory over Croatia in the European Nations League at Wembley Stadium on Thursday.

Tuchel told reporters that he did not hear boos, in contrast to the applause that veteran Croatia midfielder Luka Modric received when he left the field, which was widely reported by the media present.

The Arsenal player played his first match with England since last March, before the 2026 World Cup, in which he did not participate with his country due to injury. He was also subjected to boos in the past after his decision to leave the national team.

White left the England camp early before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for personal reasons, and later announced his unwillingness to play during the remainder of the term of former national team coach Gareth Southgate, which ended after the 2024 European Championship.

Tuchel said after the match in which captain Harry Kane celebrated his 126th international match with the England national team, a record, by scoring the winning goal from a penalty kick: “I did not hear the booing directed at Ben, and I thought we had passed that stage.”

He added: “I hope this does not happen again.” He is a player on our team. Since I took over he has been desperate to join the group. "He has not done anything wrong since I took charge."

He added: “I can only judge him based on what I see and what I lived with him. He is at the highest level and can really help us win matches.”

He continued: “As I said, he is part of our team, and we will protect our team. "He deserves to be with us."

Tuchel stressed that he is not worried that White will leave the team if the negative reactions continue.

“I don't think so,” he said. "I don't want to make it too big."

He added: “He always seemed committed, dedicated, and eager to join the camp and be called upon by me. “There is no reason to doubt his commitment or passion.”

He continued: “He overcame the booing last time, and I did not hear it this time.”

Harry Kane described the past few weeks as "crazy", after he celebrated his 126th appearance with the England national football team, a new record, by scoring the winning goal against Croatia, in the European Nations League, on Thursday evening.

Kane became the most representative player for the English national team in history, after participating in the match that was held at the ancient Wembley Stadium in the British capital, London.

Last month, Kane equaled the record set by legendary goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who in turn attended to join the Prince of Wales in presenting a special tribute to the veteran striker before kick-off.

In an ideal gesture, the England captain scored his 92nd international goal during the match, strengthening his record as the most scored player in the history of the Three Lions team, leading his country to a 2-1 victory over its guest Croatia, thus ensuring England’s qualification for the quarter-finals in the continental competition.

Although England had defeated coach Slaven Bilic's team 7-0 in Croatia 40 days ago, this confrontation was more club-friendly and competitive.

However, Kane expressed his happiness with his team's success in achieving the required task, which paves the way for a decisive confrontation for the top spot in Group C against Spain, on Sunday, in the final round of the group stage of the tournament.

The England national team is in second place in the group with 12 points, three points behind the Spanish national team (the leaders), which has achieved the full mark so far, after winning all five matches it played in the group.

In statements to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Kane said: “It has been a crazy few weeks. Of course, it takes a lot of your emotional, physical, mental energy and all of those aspects.”

He added in his statements, which were reported by the British News Agency: “I am good at maintaining my focus on work and what I have to do, but achieving balance is difficult because you also want to enjoy those moments.”

He explained: “Breaking the record is a huge achievement in the history of our sport, and seeing the huge Tifo banner in the stands, having my children with me, and receiving honor from everyone was something beyond dreams.”

He continued: “As soon as the starting whistle blows and you enter the field, you begin to focus only on your tasks: pressuring the opponent, passing the ball, creating and scoring goals, as this becomes all that occupies your mind.”

The player who won the “Golden Ball” award as the best player in the world this year stressed last month, “I have always had the ability to transform mentally, and of course, I can now share these moments with my family on the field after the match ends.”

Kane revealed: “I have always said that achieving great achievements becomes ten times better when combined with winning the match. “I've been lucky enough to win on all those occasions, especially here at Wembley, so it's great to do it again.”

The Spanish national team defeated its host, the Czech national team, 2-0, in the Czech capital, Prague, on Thursday as well, so the world champions continued their historic series of matches without defeat, which has now reached 43 matches, starting since March 2024.

It is noteworthy that coach Luis de la Fuente's squad came from a goal down to beat England 3-2 in their previous confrontation last September in the Nations League, and Harry Kane is now looking forward to the return match, which will be held at the Metropolitano Stadium in the Spanish capital, Madrid.

The German Bayern Munich star stressed in his statements to ITV: “After our loss in the first match against them, we realized that we did not give everything we had, and that we could provide a much better performance.”

Kane concluded his speech by saying: “We said to ourselves, ‘Let’s win every next match and see what happens.’” “Now is an ideal opportunity to prove our capabilities.”