Mikel Merino has something. What is it? You go to know. But Mikel Merino has something. And it is not little. But what is it? Is it fast? No. Is it going well in the head? Quite a bit, but wow, what... Does he have a dribble? No. Do you have agility? No. So what does Mikel Merino have? Well, you know. But the summary is that Spain was having a bad time against Croatia, a really bad time, and he came out at half-time and changed the night for several things: to save the unbeaten streak (there are 42 games), with another victory; to certify Spain's qualification for the quarterfinals of this Nations League (first place will be played in the two games in November) and to make it clear that you must always put a Mikel Merino in your life, and on your team. Because? What does it have? You go to know. [Narrative and statistics].
Well, actually there is something he does have: football on his mind. He knows how to always be in the place on the field where he is needed, he is capable of detecting free spaces like no one else and then, well, in short, the ball loves him and the effectiveness is his. Two shots, two goals. Chimpún. A courageous Croatia, wounded in its pride, looked Spain in the face, gave it a hard time and even took the lead. But the one he couldn't handle was Mikel Merino. Put one in your life. Or on your team. It will be good for you.
Bilic played it all or nothing. Maybe he couldn't do anything else, but he put all the quality he has on the field. Perisic returned to where he was great, as a left winger, although he ended up being almost a winger, and Kovacic and Modric lived in hiding. Especially damaging for Spain was Kovacic in the first half. Swarming around Rodri, he looked for his back in the first 20 minutes and his teammates found him twice. The City footballer led and was the generator of the two best Croatian chances. One was saved by Unai, but the next one couldn't. His rebound, this time, found Perisic, who did not miss.
It was an idyllic setting for those at home, forced as they were to clean up their image, regardless of the result, after the catastrophe a few days ago against England. Emboldened by the encouragement of the public, ready to forgive the affront, Bilic's team prepared to defend that goal with nails, teeth and whatever it took. Spain, meanwhile, tried to temper the bagpipes, especially after a gross error in Laporte's release of the ball left Matanovic hand in hand with Unai almost on the same balcony of the small area. The Freiburg striker gave it to the goalkeeper.
The world champion, who had put everything she had on the field (she was the eleven in the World Cup final, except Pubill and Pedri), had not seen herself behind on the scoreboard for almost a year, in an inconsequential match against Turkey. If we look at serious matches, the last precedent of being down was in March 2025 against the Netherlands. Faced with such a scenario, the team did what it knows how to do. He took the ball and, little by little, he put the rival in, there and then, after half an hour, installed in a textbook 5-4-1, against his goal. Unai was 60-70 meters away, and for players as veteran as those in the Croatian midfield, that is a lot of meters. Even so, since they are veterans but good, the scare did not disappear. Spain had the ball and stopped having obvious problems, but they were not able to generate much either. A shot by Oyarzabal and another by Lamine almost at the end of the first half were the only things that could be pointed out.
But what was said. After the break, De la Fuente put Merino in Baena's place and threw Olmo to the left. And Merino, in case you hadn't noticed, has something. It is not very clear what it is. It is difficult to define him. But it has something. With its mobility, with its enthusiasm, with its whatever, Spain improved. And a lot. And he started to generate chances, now. Two very clear ones. One from Lamine (his bad night), who when he had everything in his favor to score incomprehensibly decided to jump into the pool looking for a penalty which, of course, was not, and another from Dani Olmo. The tie, of course, and the winning goal, of course, were Mikel Merino's work. What will it have?
