Spain resume their World Cup preparations with a friendly against Switzerland in Villarreal on Sunday night, hoping to maintain their feelgood factor after gaining a thumping 6-1 victory over Argentina in their last international outing in March.
La Roja are among the tournament favourites after mounting an extremely impressive qualification campaign, and this penultimate warm-up fixture – preceding next weekend’s meeting with Tunisia – is another chance to establish their credentials.
Here are three of the big talking points ahead of Sunday evening’s contest.
One up top?
The main selection decision facing boss Julen Lopetegui is in attack, where Iago Aspas, Diego Costa and Rodrigo Moreno are competing for the one central striker berth in manager Julen Lopetegui’s 4-3-3 set-up.
Those three forwards held off Euro 2016 starter Alvaro Morata to earn a place in the squad, but Lopetegui has admitted he still does not know which of the trio will be named in the starting eleven for the World Cup opener against Portugal in less than a fortnight.
Atletico Madrid target man Costa has the biggest reputation of the three but Celta Vigo star Aspas has been the most impressive recently, registering one goal and two assists in the victory over Argentina and finishing the league season with an impressive haul of 22 goals – six more than any other Spanish player.
Valencia striker Rodrigo is probably third in the pecking order having played his way into the squad with a 16-goal league campaign, and Lopetegui is more likely to be making a straight choice between the power of Costa or the more graceful skills of Aspas. This weekend’s game could give both a chance to shine.
Odriozola’s opportunity?
The least known name in Spain’s World Cup squad is 22 year-old Real Sociedad right back Alvaro Odriozola, who has won just two caps and played only 47 league games.
But with Real Madrid star Dani Carvajal recovering from a hamstring injury suffered during last weekend’s Champions League Final, a vacancy has opened up on the right of Lopetegui’s defence and Odriozola is vying with Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta to fill it.
And they might not only be understudies: it’s uncertain whether Carvajal will be fit in time for the start of the World Cup, so whoever wins the battle between the back-ups could gain a starting berth for that crunch opener against Portugal – which would mean a close encounter with none other than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Odriozola is the more attacking option and better on the ball, but Azpilicueta has much more experience at the highest level after appearing in the 2014 World Cup Finals as well as his vast experience with Chelsea. Lopetegui’s preference could be revealed against Switzerland.
Swiss defensive precision?
Switzerland are not heading to the east coast of Spain this weekend merely to make up the numbers, with Vladimir Petkovic’s team also in the midst of World Cup preparations as they look ahead to their Group E encounters with Brazil, Serbia and Costa Rica.
The Swiss were excellent during the qualifying campaign, winning nine of their ten games to finish second, level on points with group winners Portugal, and then defeating Northern Ireland 1-0 on aggregate in the playoff round. They also gained clean sheet friendly victories over Panama and Greece in March, and will travel to Russia with high hopes of making it through to the last sixteen at the very least.
Defence is by far the Swiss team’s greatest strength, conceding just four goals in their last 12 games, with Fabien Schar of Deportivo La Coruna flanked by excellent Serie A-based full-backs Stephan Lichtsteiner of Juventus and AC Milan’s Ricardo Rodriguez.
They will aim to make life as difficult as possible for the hosts, and another clean sheet would give further weight to the suggestion that they could be a dark horse in Russia this summer.
