De la Fuente lauds ‘underrated’ Oyarzabal after Spain win
Mikel Oyarzabal was on the scoresheet once again for Spain during their win against Georgia, prompting kind words from Luis de la Fuente.
Luis de la Fuente labelled Mikel Oyarzabal as “underrated” and “a very complete player” after his performance in Spain’s 2-0 win against Georgia.
The European champions went ahead in their latest World Cup qualifier through Yeremy Pino, before Oyarzabal doubled their lead with a powerful free-kick after Ferran Torres’ missed penalty.
The Real Sociedad forward has now directly contributed to 10 goals for La Roja in 2025, with only Erling Haaland (15) registering more goal involvement for a European national team this calendar year.
De la Fuente had to cope with the absences of players such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Dean Huijsen, but he was pleased with how his team conducted themselves on Saturday, especially Oyarzabal.
"He's a very complete player. Totally. He does everything well,” De la Fuente said of Oyarzabal.
“If he plays up front, he does well, with runs between the lines... He's the same on the wings, with attacks down the left. He interprets every game situation. Yes, he's underrated.
“Fortunately, I'll have to make decisions. We have a great youth academy and players for the future.
“It's a source of pride, [the absences are] nothing to worry about. When you have doubts, football itself clears them up. I'm lucky. Today we saw other players.”
Georgia are third in Group E, three points behind second-place Turkiye at the halfway stage in their qualifying campaign.
They were completely dominated in proceedings on Saturday, conceding 24 shots as Spain enjoyed a 82.8% share of possession.
Although Willy Sagnol was disappointed in the attitude shown by his side, he was quick to praise Sapin for their performance.
"We can say we were very lucky to only lose 2-0, but it's not just a question of quality. I saw some attitudes on the pitch that I had not seen before, and I did not like them," said Sagnol.
"We could talk about Spain all night long. What we saw is the consequence of what Spanish football has done in the last 20 or 25 years.
“They've started to produce very intelligent players. If you look at Pedri, he's so light he could be blown away if it's windy, but he's one of the best midfielders in the world because he's very clever and always puts the team first.”
