Gavi, the cheeky interpreter of Luis Enrique

• Chronicle Spain plays, Portugal hits

• Direct This was the Spain-Portugal

You don't need to listen to the cries of

from the bench.

knows how to interpret what the coach wants without words.

As in the schoolyard, he does not need instructions.

He perceives it.

When Spain needs to accelerate, the Sevillian appears with a spark of catalytic effect.

When he has to grit his teeth, he focuses on stealing the ball with which to open defenses with telegraphed passes.

With his back covered by the incombustible Jordi Alba, he displayed gall to challenge

and

and it only took him 25 minutes to outwit them.

With youthful roguery, he snatched the ball from the Manchester midfielder and, in the blink of an eye, found

on the opposite shore to serve

's goal .

The move was one more example of the headache that it meant for

, in attack in the first half, making an effort to contain Portugal's awakening until the 80th minute of the second.

With only five official matches, his name is underlined by rivals along with

or

, the other beardless talents of Luis Enrique will take to the World Cup in Qatar.

Although he does not want to give him praise, the coach does not deny his performance.

«Indisputable it is not.

There is none in this selection.

But I have the feeling that he is still unknown to Spanish football.

It's not just that he runs and fights, it's that he's a very good player offensively, a pure inside player, with a hit with both legs, a shot and a goal, as you'll see.

With 18 years, a unique player, "said a convinced Luis Enrique.

At the moment, he makes them.

Gavi found the perfect allies to put Spain ahead, especially Morata, who beat

to add 26 goals with which he surpasses

and is placed as the seventh top scorer with the national team shirt.

"We've had more chances but we haven't finished it off and we've been leveled," confessed the scorer.

It is still far from the numbers of the friend and former partner with whom he greeted in the band.

Like a fish out of water, it was

's turn to experience the start of the match.

The captain of Portugal and the top scorer for national teams in the history of football was removed by Fernando Santos from the starting eleven.

The photo of him on the bench is so unusual that he overshadowed the whistles that Benito Villamarín gave him almost in unison.

The Portuguese captain is not used to hearing the hymn of him hugging the substitutes.

He had not done so in an official match since October 2017. Then, in a qualifying match for the World Cup in Russia against Andorra, Santos protected him for half of the game due to his physical discomfort.

No one had taken him out of Portugal's lineups since Euro 2004 in a match against Greece.

Yesterday there was no apparent excuse beyond a complex season, on and off the pitch, which condemned him to wait 61 minutes to take the field, maintain the intensity and see how Cancelo outwitted the entire Spanish defense with a center that turned into the tie

.

Doomed to draw

's header failed to

prevent a tie from being the natural state of Spain-Portugal since 2010. The last five official matches have ended in a draw, as if a curse bewitched two neighboring teams plagued with offensive talent .

This time the selection benefited was the

, which is placed at the head of the group and takes advantage after achieving victory against

without too much effort.

The Czechs took the lead in the 11th minute with a goal from Lokomotiv striker Jan Kuchta, but Okafor scored the equalizer just before half-time.

Any possibility of reaction from the Swiss ended when Sow scored the second own goal.

Spain restarts the competition with a draw that forces rowing.

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