Spain call up veteran forward as three drop out through injury

Spain have lost three significant members of their Euro 2024-winning squad to injury from their latest call-up, forcing manager Luis de la Fuente to reshuffle his squad. La Roja take on Georgia and Bulgaria in their upcoming international fixtures.

There was no shortage of controversy over the injury to Lamine Yamal, after Hansi Flick accused Luis de la Fuente of failing to take care of the 18-year-old. He relapsed from his groin injury after the match with Paris Saint-Germain last week, which has forced him to drop out of their call-up.

Rodri Hernandez also out of Spain squad

In addition to Lamine Yamal, Rodri Hernandez of Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo have also dropped out through injury. The Ballon d’Or-winner has a hamstring injury that will force him to halt activity over the international break, and Rodri has pulled out of the squad. Grimaldo on the other hand collided with teammate Christian Kofane, and after receiving stitches on his forehead, it has been decided that he will not play either.

Borja Iglesias returns to Spain squad

Image via Moi Celeste

Their misfortune has been happy news for Borja Iglesias, as confirmed by Cadena Cope. The Galician forward has been in fine form for boyhood club Celta Vigo this season, scoring in six of his last seven games for Os Celeste. That has earned him a recall at the age of 32.

It gives Iglesias a chance to add to his two previous caps, with the last one coming in 2023, seeing 24 minutes in Spain’s last qualifying defeat against Scotland. His other previous outing for La Roja also ended in defeat, coming on for 37 minutes in a 2-1 loss to Switzerland in September of 2022. It is the first time that Iglesias has been called up since declaring that he would not play for Spain until women’s football got the respect it deserved, after other Spain players also went on strike.