Spain call up Fati and Zaragoza to replace Pino
Spain selected Ansu Fati and Bryan Zaragoza to replace the injured Yeremy Pino for upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers on Monday. Granada winger Zaragoza, 22, scored twice in his team’s 2-2 draw against champions Barcelona in LaLiga on Sunday, earning his first international call-up.
“Barca players congratulated me a lot (on the performance)… and told me to stop running in the middle of the game,” Zaragoza told DAZN.
Brighton forward Ansu Fati, on loan from Barcelona, was not selected by Spain coach Luis de la Fuente for the previous qualifying wins over Georgia and Cyprus in September. Fati’s last appearance for Spain came in June in the Nations League final victory over Croatia, when he came on as a substitute for Pino.
Villarreal winger Pino suffered a hamstring injury during his side’s 2-1 defeat by Las Palmas on Sunday. Spain, second, face Group A leaders Scotland on Thursday before visiting third-place Norway on Sunday.
Source: SABC
In other news – SA bantamweight champion Ronald Malindi has died
Reigning South African bantamweight champion Ronald “King” Malindi has passed away. The Venda-born Malindi, escaped death by the skin of his teeth early last month after being shot twice, in the chest and behind the head, in Westbury.
In a statement by Boxing South Africa, the boxer who was a taxi driver and based in Brixton in Johannesburg, passed away on Saturday. Read more
