A surprise decision from De la Fuente regarding Cubarsí and Espai

An unexpected decision before the Czech Republic

Luis de la Fuente has made up his mind on Pau Cubarsi and Carlos Espi. The Spain head coach left the pair out of his 23-man squad to face the Czech Republic on Saturday evening at the Carlos Tartiere.

Nico Williams' injury had already cut Spain's squad to 25, and De la Fuente opted against calling up a replacement. He then trimmed the group further, dropping Cubarsi and Espi from the matchday selection. Both will watch from the stands, according to the Spanish newspaper "Marca".

Resting Espi made perfect sense. The Real Madrid forward only arrived in Oviedo on Friday evening after scoring five goals for Spain's under-21s against San Marino, and he is set to join senior training from Sunday.

Cubarsi gets a breather too, having clocked a full 180 minutes over the international break. The coaching staff want to manage his minutes carefully, not least because he played every single minute for Spain at the World Cup.

Roberto Fernandez is back. The Espanyol forward returns after missing two matches and will wear the number 17 shirt. Fran Garcia takes the number 5, Le Normand keeps the number 3, and the number 7 once worn by Nico Williams now goes to Victor Munoz.