4-3: A two-faced Spain dispatched Kazakhstan

Spain U-21 beat Kazakhstan 4-3 in Cádiz in a match where Santi Denia’s men showed two faces. La Rojita showed their attack in the first half with Mateo Joseph’s hat-trick, but defensive problems ended up spoiling the victory. With nothing at stake as it already has a ticket for the European Championship, Spain scored more goals against a weak Kazakh team than in the entire qualification phase (2).

Although La Rojita started strongly, the visiting team surprised the U-21s with a great goal from Kenzhebek in the 12th minute in their first approach. The reaction of those from Denia, with three goals in eight minutes, was brilliant. Pablo Torre worked on playing between the lines and on the wings Navarro and Raúl Moro had no rest. That and defensive concessions led to Mateo Joseph’s tie, Turrientes’ 2-1 and Mateo Joseph’s own 3-1.

The Leeds forward, who started in place of Samu, crowned his excellent first half by making it 4-1 on the stroke of half-time. In between, Spain never seemed to think and had plenty of chances to extend its lead on the scoreboard.

With everything decided, Spain relaxed in the second half. The carousel of changes (Casadó did not debut) in Denia reduced the pace and intensity of the locals. Kazakhstan, without doing anything out of this world, took advantage of defensive weaknesses to fully enter the game. Kenzhebek made it 4-2 after dismissing Juanlu and Andukinov took advantage of the rebound to make it 4-3 (76′). That’s where the strength of a Kazakhstan ended up surrendering the two-faced Spain.