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New Zealand rout England by 253 runs: second men’s Test, day five – as it happened | England v New Zealand 2026
Key events
Stokes to return as captain at Trent Bridge
More from Brendon McCullum on the imminent return of Ben Stokes.
[Will Ben Stokes return as captain at Trent Bridge?] Yeah, at the moment that’s what we’re planning. The rest of the squad will be announced this afternoon once we’ve told a few of the lads.
[On the mixed messaging around Stokes’ mental state] People always have a difference of opinion, that’s the way things are – people read things differently. From my point of view I’ve been speaking to Ben every day since the incident and have obviously been trying to be supportive.
I think it was great he was able to play cricket this week and get some runs. He looked like he had a bit of pep in his step as well. We know a fit, firing Ben Stokes is an asset to every team in the world.
Those conversations between Stokesy and I are private; I’m not going to go into that at all.
[On his relationship with Stokes] You’ve got to separate the actions from the man. I was disappointed with the actions, which didn’t meet the standards we’ve set for ourselves, but then you support the man. I’ve always firmly believed in that. We have the same vision for an England team that is long-term sustainably successful.
[Could you and Rob Key have backed him more as captain in the immediate aftermath?] There was a formal disciplinary process we had to go through. Until you have that information, nobody is able to make any decisions or make any emphatic public statements.
People make mistakes, right? We all try to abide by standards, but you’re always supporting the man. I have no problem and it’ll be nice to have the opportunity to try to close out a series win against a very good New Zealand win. If we do that I think it’ll be a mighty achievement, particularly after the last week which has been very difficult.
I want to make special mention of Joe Root. The way he picked up the responsbility in a difficult period… I can’t speak highly enough of him.
Brendon McCullum’s verdict
It happened a bit quicker than we wanted today. My optimism knows no bounds – I thought we might be able to do something special. But New Zealand outplayed us in all three aspects and they were relentless with the ball.
I thought our tactics were pretty good across the board. We created opportunities to take wickets but we weren’t able to take them. I don’t know how many Tests have been won when you drop 10 catches.
I thought Joe did an outstanding job, working with Harry across the Test. There’s lots to be proud of and some stuff we need to tidy up. You might not get the instant gratification of a win but the young guys will be a lot better for the experience.
Match report: New Zealand win by 253 runs
Tom Latham’s reaction
It’s been a fantastic week. We managed to get our nose in front during some crucial moments and I thought we played fantastically well.
The way the bowlers were able to operate was crucial: top of off, a little bit of old-school cricket, and we managed to get the results.
We all know the talent [Glenn Phillips] has got. He’s played some crucial innings, and the way he batted against Jofra showed the ticker and the method that he has.
We thought hitting the top of off repeatedly was the best method on this surface. Henners [Matt Henry] is a pretty good exponent of that. He’s been a spearhead for us for a long period and it was nice for him to get the results.
Joe Root’s reaction
Credit to New Zealand, I thought they played really well. There were a number of moments when the game was in the balance and they won them. Fair play to them. It’s still 1-1 and there’s everything to play for at Trent Bridge.
I really enjoyed coming back into that space [as captain] and working with Baz. And it was a great opportunity for the young guys coming into the team. There were a lot of good things across the five days, but we just have to do things better for longer. If you miss eight chances, catches in particular, against a good team on a good pitch it’ll hurt you.
Glenn Phillips played really well during a really fiery spell from Jofra, who I thought was excellent throughout the Test. It was a good lesson for our batters, the way he recognised that scenario, got through a really tough spell and reaped the rewards the following morning. As a young side, we can learn from that.
When you lose a game you always think: ‘What did we do wrong?’ Sometimes that’s unfair on the opposition. They’re allowed to play well and New Zealand certainly did that.
[Do you want to put the captaincy blazer back in the garage?] We’ll see what happens in the next couple of days.
The player of the match is Matt Henry
We probably didn’t expect it to unfold like that today, but we probably saved ourselves a really hot day in the field!
[On the value of a 10-day break between Tests] It helped massively. I was just trying to regain some confidence in the body. It feels pretty bad when you let the guys down on day one, so it was great to come here and get my quota out.
The top order did some great work in challenging conditions on day one, helping the ball get soft for Glenn [Phillips] to do his thing. With the ball we talked about being relentless and offering something different from each end, because we thought it might take until the last session today.
[On Tom Blundell standing up to the stumps and the influence of the Ashes] We actually used the tactic in New Zealand a few years ago; we brought Tommy up at the Basin [Reserve in Wellington]. We talked about trying to keep guys in their crease because they wanted to walk out and get busy. Having a world-class operator like Tom is huge – you can’t do it unless you have somebody as good as him behind the stumps. He was absolutely outstanding.
[Do you have to keep your ego in check when the keeper stands up?] I’ve always said I’d rather be effective than be a hero! The main thing for us was to create pressure.
[On his role as attack leader] Ah, it’s pretty easy when you’ve got such a strong bowling group.
England lost the game on the second morning, when they mislaid the plot in the field and allowed New Zealand to get too many in the first innings. In a sense they lost this game on day four at Lord’s, but we don’t need to go over all that.
Matt Henry’s match figures of 42.1-9-109-11 are the best by a New Zealand bowler in a Test against England. He goes past Dion Nash, a criminally underrated seamer who almost bowled New Zealand to victory at Lord’s in 1994. That match also featured a glorious century from an ageing Martin Crowe.
Since you asked, Sir Richard Hadlee took a couple of ten-forsagainst England: Wellington 1978, Trent Bridge 1986.
That was a crushing victory for New Zealand, a triumph of experience, class and equilibrium. It’s hard to write about New Zealand without inadvertently patronising them, but bloody hell they are good.
Jordan Cox made 27 and 25 in his debut Test – nothing scores, it’s true, but there were plenty of signs that he might have what it takes at this level. He certainly has the strokeplay.
Matt Henry has taken 5-3 this morning to finish with 6-29 in the innings and 11-109 in the match. I don’t know if that’s the best performance of his career, but it’s in the top one right up there. And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bloke.
New Zealand win by 253 runs!
WICKET! England 209 all out (Cox b Henry 25) New Zealand didn’t need Baker on strike. Henry spears in a yorker that beats Cox’s premediated sweep to hit middle stump and end the match. Canny, classy bowling from a late-blooming giant of world cricket.
58th over: England 209-9 (Cox 25, Baker 0) Cox charges Jamieson and pulls a mighty six over midwicket. A clever clip through square leg brings three more and allows him to keep strike. Somebody shouted for O’Rourke to leave it, as a boundary would have meant Baker being on strike at the start of the next over, but he either didn’t hear or ignored it.
57th over: England 200-9 (Cox 16, Baker 0) This has been a rewarding series for lovers of skilful seam bowling. Ollie Robinson was player of the match at Lord’s; Matt Henry will surely win the award here.
Henry has a full over at Baker, who solidly plays out a maiden. Baker is cut from the tailend cloth as Will O’Rourke, a No11 who doesn’t score runs but has a decent defensive technique.
“The Kiwi cricket team has a decent claim to be the most likeable bunch in international sport (and ALWAYS has done),” writes Robert Wilson. “That unassuming moral rectitude, that reflexive self-deprecation and team-ethos primacy is permanently standard. They’re almost impossible to dislike. And this fluffy cuteness can obscure their brilliance and power. They’ve been a hard ask for a decade but they never seem to shake off Graham Gooch’s (admittedly fabulous) Ilford 2nd XI slur.
“Amid the obscenity of the Trumpian Bread & Circuses kickball tournament in the US, it’s cleansing to see a bunch of blokes who could all be that neighbour who uncomplainingly lends you a perfectly maintained and beautifully oiled power-tool that you don’t know how to use. And make no mistake, they have absolutely ****ing CANED England.
“I’ve enjoyed every over of it.”
I couldn’t put it nearly as well myself.
56th over: England 200-9 (Cox 16, Baker 0) Cox charges Jamieson, who drops the ball shorter as a result. Cox improvises nicely to uppercut over the slips for four and bring up England’s 200. He is a serious talent.
55th over: England 196-9 (Cox 12, Baker 0) With Cox on strike, the field is spread for Matt Henry’s hat-trick ball. I was going to say, ‘That’s a bit weird, Tom Latham should be sacked,’ etc, but on reflection I like that it captures New Zealand’s side-over-self philosophy.
Cox defends the hat-trick ball. This time he gives Baker the last two deliveries to survive. Good boy that he is, Baker obliges.
54th over: England 195-9 (Cox 11, Baker 0) Jordan Cox gives Sonny Baker one ball to survive. Good boy that he is, Baker obliges.
“I don’t get all the pessimism,” says Paul Griffin. “In addition to your list of joyful vignettes, the test has been a Tactical Great Leap Forward for cricket and English sport in general. We have established that deploying your captain out of position, in the north-east of England idyll to be precise, is not optimal. Now this is resolved, the only way is up. I hear Tommy Tuchel has abandoned his thought experiment of sending Harry Kane to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne for the next World Cup game. Kissinger, Kasparov, and Sun Tzu must be looking on in envy.”
53rd over: England 192-9 (Cox 8, Baker 0) That was the last ball of the over, so there may be no hat-trick ball. In the last five years, Matt Henry has taken 114 Test wickets at – and you’ll like this – an average of 19.70.
WICKET! England 192-9 (Tongue c Mitchell b Henry 0)
You ripper! Matt Henry has taken his first ten-for in Test cricket, and he’s on a hat-trick as well. Josh Tongue edged another immaculate delivery to first slip and was taken by Daryl Mitchell.
Henry snaps his head back and roars with delight. Honestly, this is about as good as flat-pitch seam bowling gets.
WICKET! England 192-8 (Henry b Fisher 0)
Even when he doesn’t hit the stumps, Matt Henry hits the stumps. Fisher feels for a slightly wider ball and drags it back onto leg stump to give Henry his ninth wicket of the match. He is so good.
52nd over: England 192-7 (Cox 8, Fisher 0) Cox times Jamieson nicely to the cover boundary. The game is done, and Cox is unlikely to play at Trent Bridge on Thursday, but it’s still an important innings because he can put some credit in the bank.
“I enjoyed Andy Bull’s article,” writes Tom van der Gucht. “McCullum has brought some amazing moments for us all, but most coaches seem to have ‘their method’ that works brilliantly until it doesn’t.
“Although I’m drifting off cricket and across sports, I was rewatching Winning Time and the coaching revolution at the LA Lakers lately and it reminded me how few coaches are able to mimic Ferguson with Man U and sustain success over such a long period.
I wonder whether the ECB will turn to what’s viewed as a safe pair of hands if McCullum goes. Could we be preparing ourselves for the third coming of Peter Moores… county cricket’s top coach of the 21st century and one of life’s good guys?”
If McCullum gets sacked after the Ashes, fine, but to damn him based on this game, after all the upheaval and weirdness, makes no sense to me. When history is written, I suspect the received wisdom will be that Bazball died after the India tour of 2023-24. Yas Rana’s point that McCullum was a much better fit for an experienced team in the doldrums than an inexperienced team feels spot on.
51st over: England 188-7 (Cox 4, Fisher 0) A double-wicket maiden from Henry, and why not.
WICKET! England 188-7 (Archer b Henry 0)
Make that eight wickets for Matt Henry. Jofra Archer has no chance with a wicket-to-wicket grubber and is bowled second ball for nought.
WICKET! England 188-6 (Root LBW b Henry 77)
The end is nigh. Root plays defensively at an off-cutter from Henry that snakes past the inside edge to hit the back pad. He reviews, just in case, but that was a clean LBW. Henry has dismissed the big two, Root and Brook, in both innings has match figures of 38.1-6-108-7 on a flat pitch. It’s been a wicket-to-wicket masterclass.
50th over: England 188-5 (Root 77, Cox 4) Cox hits Kyle Jamieson through the covers for three before Root edges a good ball on the bounce to second slip.
“Good morning, Rob and Happy Solstice,” says John Starbuck. “We are at the peak of summer but at this rate it won’t be remembered fondly by future generations, going by the pretty miserable performance of England cricket. What consolation can we take from this match?”
Crikey, loads. Jofra Archer v Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry’s magnificence, the first Test century by a known ADHDer, Sonny Baker’s joie de vivre, Matt Fisher’s fifty, Harry Brook’s madcap genius, Joe Root’s 14,000th Test run, the (seeming) improvement in Ben Stokes’s mental health, Rachin Ravindra’s strokeplay, Henry Nicholls shuffling into the spotlight. I could go on, but luckily for you there’s some cricket to talk about. And a wicket.
49th over: England 184-5 (Root 76, Cox 1) Henry sets the agenda with a perfect first delivery on off stump that is defended awkwardly by Root. After Root takes a single later in the over, Jordan Cox gets off the mark from his 15th delivery. Can’t imagine that has happened too often.
Tanya Aldred
Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson have been withdrawn from the remainder of Durham and Surrey’s ongoing County Championship matches at the request of the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB].
“Ben Stokes has been withdrawn from the remainder of Durham’s County Championship match against Northamptonshire at the request of the ECB,” a club statement on X said. “Colin Ackermann will replace Stokes in the Durham 11.”
Neither player was selected for the second Test after they broke the team curfew celebrating England’s first Test win against New Zealand at Lord’s. The interim captain, Joe Root, was then handed an inexperienced side who have struggled against New Zealand at The Oval, and start Sunday needing 281 more runs to win with just five wickets in hand.
The players are ready to roll. Matt Henry will open up to Joe Root.
England this, England that. It’s time to talk about New Zealand, who calmly parked their defeat at Lord’s and have quietly outclassed England in the second Test.
Glenn Phillips’ century, the first in Test cricket by a known ADHDer, was a multi-faceted masterpiece; Henry Nicholls played an innings of which Kane Williamson would be proud; and Matt Henry has been quite majestic.
There’s so much more to his performance than numbers, but the detail of Harry Brook’s performance provides a snapshot of Henry’s brilliance.
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Brook v Henry 4 runs, 19 balls, 2 wickets, SR 21
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Brook v the rest 78 runs, 67 balls, 0 wickets, SR 116
Imagine restricting Harry Brook to a strike-rate of 21, never mind dismissing him twice at an average of 2.
Simon Burnton
Josh Tongue admitted England have missed the influence of Ben Stokes after a day in which they crumbled to the brink of defeat in the second Test against New Zealand at the Oval. While they were doing so the team’s full-time captain, forced out of international duty for disciplinary reasons, was 275 miles north at Chester-le-Street, scoring a swashbuckling 95 for Durham in the County Championship.
England ended the fourth day on 182 for five, a distant 281 from victory, after the tourists scored 362 in their second innings. The home side have worked this week under the interim captaincy of Joe Root, on whose back their slender hopes once again lie, after he became the second player in Test history to pass 14,000 career runs on his way to an unbeaten 75,
“Yeah, we’ve missed him,” Tongue said of Stokes. “He’s an unbelievable player. Obviously I made my debut when he was captain, so I’ve got huge respect for Stokesy and it’s always nice seeing him get some runs as well. But obviously we’ve got a lot of leaders in our team. Rooty has stepped up as captain, he’s obviously an unbelievable player and an unbelievable leader.”
Andy Bull
At the end of the fourth day’s play here the abiding question wasn’t whether England could complete a record-breaking fourth innings chase or even if they could bat the match out to secure the draw. It was why everyone is still watching an England team coached by Brendon McCullum six months after he ought to have moved on from the job.
The way we tell it in this country, McCullum’s backstory as England coach begins on 2 January 2013 when, in his first match as New Zealand’s Test captain, the team were bowled out for 45 by South Africa at Cape Town. Legend has it this was the watershed Test. In a management meeting that evening, McCullum laid out his ideas about the way the game should be played. The hard-charging, happy-go-lucky approach that has characterised England’s cricket in the past four years was born right here, when, New Zealand’s coach, Mike Hesson, said, McCullum was first empowered “to do the job the way he wanted it done”.
There is a chapter missing in this version. Everyone involved in New Zealand cricket knows it by rote, but it’s not often discussed in England. It’s all about what happened in the months running up to that match, when McCullum’s predecessor as captain, Ross Taylor, was forced out of his job by Hesson, who was an old teammate of McCullum’s.
Here’s more on the news that Ben Stokes is back, baby
Ali Martin
What do you get if you pick three debutants, two more with one cap each, a strike-bowler who is returning to Test cricket after two solid months of sending down four-over spells in India, and hand the captaincy to a guy who has spent the past four years with the job happily in his rear-view mirror?
Throw in a seasoned opposition side like Tom Latham’s New Zealand and the answer, England have discovered, is the need to knock off a monstrous fourth-innings target of 463 – or bat out nearly five sessions – to avoid a defeat that will invite questions beyond simply that optimistic selection.
Stokes withdrawn from Durham match
So, about that third Test. Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson have been withdrawn from Durham and Surrey’s ongoing County Championship matches at the request of the ECB. The services of Benoit Blanc will not be required on this matter.
Do me a quick favour: close your eyes and just imagine the noise when Stokes walks out to bat at Trent Bridge. It might even register on the Headingley 2019ometer.
Preamble
This shouldn’t take long. New Zealand need five wickets to wrap up an emphatic victory at The Oval and set up a mouth-moistening series decider at Trent Bridge later in the week. The only teeny-tiny hope for England is the not dissimilar precedent of Aukland 2013. On that occasion they were four down going into the last day, with one of the not-out batters a pre-pubescent Joe Root one of the not-out batters.
They saved that Test, and the series, with a performance of immense defiance led by Matt Prior. (Funny how things work out. At 31, Prior seemed to be moving inexorably towards greatness; 18 months later he was done as a Test cricketer.)
Realistically, on a day like today, ‘remember when’ is the lowest form of conversation. England are going to lose – decisively, deservedly – and tomorrow’s headlines will be about the future. One subject will be discussed more than any other: what part, if any, Ben Stokes and the rest of the absent Oval Five play in that series decider.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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