Finally, Jordi Alba Called Up to Spain National Team By Enrique

DBasia.news – Luis Enrique has announced 24 players for Spain national team squad for the upcoming international break. From these 24 names, Enrique also called Barcelona defender, Jordi Alba, who didn’t call up in two previous competitions.

Alba’s call-up is a ‘victory’ for him as his effort to make his former coach in Barca put the trust on him. Apparently, in two previous competitions, Alba wasn’t included, despite he always becomes the main option for Spain’s left defense.

From both moments, public and media guessed there’s something bothering Enrique and Alba’s relationship. As a matter of fact, Alba threatened to leave Barcelona when the team was coached by Enrique in 2016-2017 due to lack of playing minute.

The relationship was getting more intense when Alab said, after bringing Barca won 5-1 against Real Madrid in Clasico, he hoped his impressive performance could trigger Enrique to bring him back to Spain national team squad.

Apparently, Enrique heard the hope of the 29-year-old player. He called him up for the match against Croatia in the UEFA Nations League and Bosnia in the international friendly match. In the press conference, Enrique denied the urgency to make peace with Alba because he has no problem at all.

“I don’t have to clarify anything about Jordi Alba. Everyone’s called up when they’re called up. I’ll greet him and welcome him, that’s it. The same goes for our other new faces. My job is to make decisions and not be affected by my personal relationship with the players,” Enrique said reported by Mundo Deportivo.

“I don’t have to base my decisions on public opinion. In this world, making decisions is a very complicated thing. There’s no turning point about my decision to call Jordi Alba. Nothing has changed,” he insisted.

Besides Alba’s call-up, Enrique also continues his experiment by involving the debutant like Mario Hermoso and Brais Mendez. Pablo Fornals also called-up after his last performance with Spain in 2016.

Here are 24 players for Spain national team squad:

Goalkeeper: David De Gea (Manchester United), Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea) and Pau Lopez (Espanyol).

Defender: Jonny Otto (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Diego Llorente (Real Sociedad), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Mario Hermoso (Espanyol), Inigo Martínez (Athletic Club Bilbao), Jose Luis Gaya (Valencia), Jordi Alba (FC Barcelona).

Midfielder: Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelona), Pablo Fornals (Villarreal), Brais Mendez (Celta Vigo), Sergi Roberto (FC Barcelona), Saul (Atletico Madrid), Dani Ceballos (Real Madrid), Rodri (Atletico Madrid).

Attacking Line: Suso (AC Milan), Rodrigo (Valencia), Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo), Alvaro Morata (Chelsea), Isco (Real Madrid), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid).