On a night when Thomas Tuchel’s England reign started with a win, the team who defeated the Three Lions in last year’s Euro final flexed their muscles with a Leeds United forward leading the line.
Unfortunately for England obsessives still haunted by the memory of Mikel Oyarzabal’s late winner in Germany, Spain are going nowhere.
Luigi de la Fuente’s squad, for the March international break, contained no fewer than nine players under the age of 24. Teenagers Dean Huijsen and Lamine Yamal among them. If that wasn’t a terrifying enough hint at Spain’s potential domination of the European scene, a glance at their Under-21 selection just rams home the sheer depth of talent rising through the ranks.
Leeds’ Mateo Joseph scored the opener as Spain faced the Czech Republic on Friday. While he has found goals a little hard to come by under Daniel Farke at Leeds United, Joseph is prolific in the red and yellow of La Roja.
He now has seven in eight Under-21 games, including a hat-trick against Kazakhstan.
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Barcelona and Valencia stars hail Leeds United striker Mateo Joseph
With Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez, Valencia’s Cristian Mosquera and Sevilla’s Juanlu Sanchez joining him on the scoresheet, Mateo Joseph’s emphatic, first-time striker in the tenth minute came after he dovetailed beautifully with Valencia playmaker Javi Guerra.
Joseph and Guerra exchanged passes not once but twice. Less a ‘one-two’, and more of a ‘three-four’.
Guerra nearly joined Atletico Madrid last summer and has since been linked with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United, despite an £85 million release clause in his Valencia contract. This, a subtle, chipped pass allowing Joseph to fire home, was the sort of creativity the Los Che starlet possesses in droves.
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And, after turning provider for Joseph, Guerra was also amongst the first to congratulate Leeds’ leggy number nineteen on social media.
Bournemouth sensation Dean Huijsen also responded in kind to Joseph’s post-match Instagram post, along with Barcelona defender Gerard Martin and Las Palmas whizzkid Alberto Moleiro.
“With this family, to the end,” Joseph wrote, accompanied by a photo of Spain’s starting XI ahead of that eventual 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic.
Daniel Farke continues to back Joseph at Elland Road
That near goal-a-game record for La Roja’s next generation will, however, elicit rather mixed feelings from the Leeds United support. Why can Joseph not display the same clinical edge when he pulls on their white shirt?
He remains very highly rated both in England and back home – Real Betis had a £10 million bid rejected by Leeds in the winter window while De La Fuente included him with Spain’s first-team during a midweek training session – but that is despite a record which reads three goals in 36 club appearances across 2024/25.
While questions remain with regards to his end product, Daniel Farke can have no complaints about Mateo Joseph’s work rate, or his desire to improve.
“In general, the attitude to come on and use each and every second on the pitch to impress, that’s what I want to see,” Farke said shortly after Joseph ended a four-month goal drought in Leeds’ 7-0 thrashing of Cardiff City.
“What I liked about Mateo’s last performances was that he invested a lot of energy to carry the ball forward and invested a lot of putting intensity into the game. Automatically, then, goals and assists will come his way.
“This was the way he was able to score goals and assist them in the beginning of the season. Then he had a period where he dipped a little bit and we spoke about this. In the last weeks, when he came on he had a real impact by returning to his best behaviour, and that is always when he puts intensity in.
“When you think about working for the team, then goals and assists will come automatically. In the last weeks, I have been pleased when I’ve brought him in.”