Mikel Merino is the player he is thanks to Imanol and Real Sociedad | OneFootball

Mikel Merino struck in the 91st minute in Dallas to beat Portugal and send Spain into the World Cup quarter-finals. His father Miguel was in the stands.

According to Diario Vasco, he dedicated the goal to a friend, traced L and M for wife Lola and son Marco, then circled the corner flag in tribute to his aita.

Miguel praised his son’s readiness to accept any role and to decide games after coming on with Fabián. Minutes later he finished low to win it. He compared the feeling to Stuttgart, when a header sent Spain through at Euro 2024.

The goal capped recovery from a late-January stress fracture that initially put his World Cup place in doubt. The 30-year-old had surgery, pushed hard until Arsenal slowed him to avoid relapse, and Luis de la Fuente waited until the last moment.

Week by week the pain eased, the screw bedded in and confidence grew. Merino’s commitment is long-standing at Real Sociedad, where he played through broken bones and a dislocated shoulder, even taking injections to win the Copa del Rey.

His father says Real and Imanol Alguacil shaped the player he is, after spells at Osasuna, Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle. Across six seasons he played 242 games, reached Europe five times and won the Copa del Rey.

He is Navarrese and osasunista, now an Arsenal champion after a Premier League title arrived 22 years on. With Spain facing Belgium in Los Angeles on Friday at 21:00, Lola and Marco will travel.

Source: Diario Vasco