Barcelona starlet reacts to Spain debut in Iraq draw | OneFootball

Six Barcelona players were in action on Thursday as Spain played the first of their two World Cup warm-up friendlies. La Roja played out a 1-1 draw with Iraq at Riazor, where Joan Garcia, Eric Garcia, Marc Bernal, Gavi, Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres were all involved.

Bernal’s inclusion was the biggest novelty. The 19-year-old was called up to face Iraq by Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente due to a number of the 26-man World Cup squad having been ruled out, and he certainly did not look out of place on his senior debut at international level.

After that match, he spoke to the media (via MD) to convey his feelings about having made his eagerly-anticipated debut for the Spanish national team.

“I’m very happy to make my debut with the senior team. I think I went a little bit from less to more, that I was a little nervous about the first game. But it is something normal. It’s a day I’ll remember all my life because I’ve been dreaming about this since I was little. Others deserved it and they couldn’t be here, so I feel lucky.”

Spain manager praises Bernal – “Important player for the future”

Image via Spanish Football Federation

During his post-match press conference, Spain head coach de la Fuente was asked about the performance of Bernal, who played for an hour against Iraq. He expressed his pride at how the Barcelona teenager handled himself, and he expects to call upon him many more times in the future.

“He’s a very young boy who has a lot of personality, a lot of criteria to play in that position that is so important for us as a midfielder. He has so much potential that he has a huge margin for improvement. It will depend on him how far he can go because he looks like he is a very important player for the future.”