Roberto Antolín doubts Sporting star will play: called up, yes, play no | OneFootball

Roberto Antolín, the Spanish journalist who has closely followed Iván Fresneda’s career since he arrived at Valladolid, is not surprised by the Sporting right-back’s call-up to Luis de la Fuente’s squad for the next four fixtures of the world champions, corresponding to the Nations League group stage.

Besides describing the national team coach as a “super professional,” he acknowledges that he has a deep knowledge of almost all the Spanish national team’s youth levels. As such, and as in this case, when one of the regular call-ups is unable to contribute to “La Roja,” the coach usually turns to the next age group to find an alternative.

So, Iván Fresneda ultimately benefits from Pedro Porro’s injury in last weekend’s match against Aston Villa in the Premier League. “This is where Iván Fresneda comes in; he is the right-back for the under-21 national team and plays for one of those Portuguese clubs that Spaniards consider important. There are only three — Porto, Benfica and Sporting,” he said, while expressing some doubts about the possibility of Fresneda — who has been receiving plenty of praise — being able to play in these four matches.

"It is one thing to be called up, another to play for the Spanish national team. We are not talking about ‘friendly’ matches, but important games for a team that will surely want to add the Nations League to its European Championship and World Cup titles,” he said. It should be remembered that Spain will face England at Wembley (26/9), and will also take on the Czech Republic (3/10) and Croatia (29/9 and 6/10).

However, regardless of the coach’s decisions, Roberto Antolín guarantees that this is a great moment in Iván Fresneda’s career. “Who wouldn’t want to be in the national team that is currently world and European champion? Every player wants to be in this Spanish team. For Iván Fresneda, it is a dream come true.”

"Sporting gave him the opportunity to play at the highest level, to compete in the Champions League, something he certainly would not have achieved if he had stayed in Spain. It is impossible to say for sure, but it would have been more difficult. So yes, we can say that this leap in his career is thanks to Sporting.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.