MADRID, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Nico Williams, Alvaro Morata and goalkeeper Unai Simon were Spain's heroes in Braga on Tuesday night as Luis Enrique's side not only earned a place in the semifinals of the UEFA Nations League but also took a moral-boosting win before the FIFA World Cup.
Although Williams only played the last 20 minutes, his pace and willingness to attack were vital in sparking life into a Spain side that failed to have a shot on target in the first 70 minutes.
It was the knockdown from the 20-year-old Athletic Bilbao winger that allowed Morata to score the winning goal, taking what had looked to be an unlikely win until Spain's substitutions turned things around.
Until the entry of Williams, along with Gavi, Pedri and Yeremy Pino helped revolutionize Spain in the last quarter of the match, it had been Simon who had kept them in the game with three exceptional saves to deny Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The fact that Simon played both games in the international break, with Robert Sanchez and David Raya unused substitutes, makes it clear that he will start in Qatar, barring injury.
However, despite the euphoria of the last 20 minutes, there was enough in the first 20 to provide some cause for concern.
Once again, Spain fell into the trap of playing possession football and doing nothing with the ball, as Pablo Sarabia and Ferran Torres (neither of whom are starting for their clubs) struggled to make an impact for the second successive game. Luis Enrique is loyal to his players, but he admitted after Tuesday's match that "someone is going to miss out."
While Spain made nice patterns and failed to create chances, the Portuguese carved out several goalscoring opportunities against a defense that still looks timid, and had it not been for Simon's heroics, the match would have been lost long before Williams and company got into the action.
Enrique also highlighted in his post-game press conference that Aymeric Laporte was still unavailable after missing the start of the season with a knee injury. Inigo Martinez was also not included in the squad after his early-season injury problems, and the two would certainly make Spain a tougher defensive unit.
The coach will have to decide if he wants the toughest defense, or if he is willing to sacrifice some defensive power for Eric Garcia's ability to play the ball from the back.
Meanwhile, Ansu Fati is still making his way back to full fitness after his battle against injury, and Mikel Oyarzabal should return to action next month after a knee injury, while Gerard Moreno should also offer more options in attack if he can stay fit for more than two months at a time.
Enrique will probably start with a midfield similar to that which ended Tuesday's match, with the Barcelona trio of Sergio Busquets, Gavi and Pedri in his starting line-up.
Gavi and Pedri offer more bite that Koke and Carlos Soler, who both disappointed on Tuesday and who face a nervous wait until the squad is named on November 10.
Morata's goalscoring record with Spain means he will be one of the first names on the list, but the fact Borja Iglesias wasn't given a second chance to show what he can do means the Real Betis striker will probably miss out.
Meanwhile, Williams, a player many thought had been given a call up to stop him pledging allegiance to Ghana, as his brother Inaki recently did, has become the wildcard after two substitute appearances in two games have shown his ability to turn a game on its head. ■
