Football: Spain coach De la Fuente picks Lamine Yamal for World Cup games

Madrid (Spain), Nov 7 (IANS) Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has included FC Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal in his squad for the World Cup qualifying matches away to Georgia and at home to Türkiye, which will decide if his side qualifies directly for next summer's World Cup.

Yamal is included despite withdrawing from the last squad a month ago due to his ongoing problems with pubalgia and controversy over the injury he picked up in the first two qualifying games in September, when Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was unhappy at the time the 18-year-old played in matches that were already decided.

When asked about his decision to include Yamal, De la Fuente pointed out that he played in Barcelona's last two matches, including the Champions League tie in Bruges on Wednesday, reports Xinhua.

"I think he is in perfect condition, and his coach (Flick) said he is able to play football. He is recovering his best level and we all celebrate that," commented the Spain coach in his Friday press conference. "He will be with us here as long as we consider necessary. We have a lot at stake and we want to have the best players with us," added De la Fuente.

Spain are without injured defenders Dani Carvajal and Robin le Normand for the matches against Georgia and Türkiye, while Barcelona midfielder Pedri has a muscle injury and Nico Williams again misses out due to his pelvic issues, with Pablo Fornals earning a call into the squad and Dani Olmo and Dean Huijsen recalled after missing the last two matches due to injury.

Spain topped their qualifying group, and winning against sides it has already beaten easily would be enough to assure a ticket to the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Full squad:

Goalkeepers: David Raya, Alex Remiro, Unai Simon.

Defenders: Marcos Llorente, Pedro Porro, Aymeric Laporte, Pau Cubarsi, Dean Huijsen, Dani Vivian, Alex Grimaldo, Marc Cucurella.

Midfielders: Mikel Merino, Aleix Garcia, Fabian Ruiz, Martin Zubimendi, Pablo Fornals, Alex Baena, Pablo Barrios.

Forwards: Dani Olmo, Ferran Torres, Yeremy Pino, Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Mikel Oyarzabal, Borja Iglesias, Samu.

--IANS

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