Glorious Gavi makes history but Spain stumble against Czech Republic in the Nations League
Gavi made history by scoring for Spain against the Czech Republic in the Nations League.
Despite Gavi’s genius, however, Spain were held to a 2-2 draw by the Czechs and spent much of the game trailing and desperately trying to claw their way back into the game. Gavi’s goal was their first equaliser and Inigo Martinez added a second late on but it wasn’t enough.
Gavi will still be celebrating, however. In first-half stoppage time he collected a Rodri pass inside the area about 13 yards from goal. He took a touch on his right-foot, moving the ball perfectly onto his left.
From here he showed no hesitation and wrapped his left-foot around the ball and gently passed the ball across goal into the far corner of the net beyond the despairing dive of Tomas Vaclik.
😍 Gavi gets his first senior international goal for Spain with an exquisite finish.
⭐ What a bright future this young man has ahead of him. pic.twitter.com/m4EDeV4FX0
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) June 5, 2022
The goal not only made it 1-1, giving Spain life in a game where they looked a long way from doing any damage, but it made Gavi the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Spanish national team.
Gavi is 17 years and 304 days old, which puts him clear of his Barcelona team-mate Ansu Fati who held the record. Ansu scored against Ukraine in the Nations League back in 2020 when he was 17 years and 311 days old.
Gavi beat Ansu by a week.
Gavi is now Spain's youngest ever goalscorer, taking the record from teammate Ansu Fati:
◉ Gavi (17Y, 304D)
◎ Ansu Fati (17Y 311D)La Masia keeps producing. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/JdcPlMfzoj
— Squawka (@Squawka) June 5, 2022
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Gavi’s heroics couldn’t help Spain get the win however. With Jan Kuchta scoring his second goal in as many Nations League games just after the hour with a delicious chip over Unai Simon.
Much as Spain dominated the game, Czech Republic managed to expose Spain’s shoddy offside trap on a few occasions, scoring twice. It leaves Spain third in the group on two points, and they will be hoping the Czechs and Portugal play out a draw on Thursday, allowing them to beat Switzerland and join both sides on 4 points in the group.
Gavi's game by numbers vs. Portugal:
100% long ball accuracy
94% pass accuracy
73 touches
54 passes attempted
51 passes completed
5 duels won
2 crosses
2 chances created
2 interceptions
2 fouls wonAs soon as he went off Spain conceded. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/OmSOTDd2i8
— Squawka (@Squawka) June 2, 2022
Gavi will surely have a part to play in those games, and if his performances against Portugal and the Czech Republic are anything to go by, don’t rule out him scoring more goals or at least impacting the score sheet somehow.
