Alejandro Baena, who participated in the victory of the Spanish team against Italy (1-0) on the second day of group B at Euro 2024, in his debut became the seventh Villarreal player to debut in Spain in the final stage of a European.
The soccer player, who was born in Roquetas de Mar (Almería) in July 2001, came to replace Pedri of Barcelona, in the 71st minute, in his fourth appearance with the Spanish team.
Baena made his debut in the victory given by the team Cyprus (6-0), in a qualifying match for Euro 2024, in September, and later participated in two more friends, in the loss against Colombia (1-0) and in the win against Andorra (5-0).
The Almeria midfielder has now taken the baton they left behind Pau Torres and Gerard Moreno who played the 2021 Euro Cup in England with the Spanish team led by Luís Enrique.
The Castellón center-back participated in all six games, three as a starter, while Gerard played four games, three as a starter.
The other four Villarreal players who participated in Spain in the final phase of the Euro Cup are Bruno Soriano, Santi Cazorla, Marcos Senna and Joan Capdevila.
The first to debut were defender Capdevila and midfielder Senna, two pillars of the team that, led by Luis Aragoneswon the title in 2008. Santi Cazorla played a relatively minor role, however, he participated in five of the six matches although he did so in most cases as a reserve.
In 2012 it had no representative and in 2016 it regained its presence with the participation of midfielder Bruno Soriano. Villarreal’s captain played a few minutes off the bench in the victory over Turkey (3-0) and in the defeat against Croatia (1-2) in the matches of the first stage.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
