Spain's Under-17s team are about to embark on their World Cup campaign in Brazil, but will do so without Ansu Fati.
That's despite coach David Gordo's admission that he would have preferred to be able to call on the Barcelona star, who instead played for the Under-21s during the last international break and who'll spend the next month with his club.
Gordo spoke with MARCA about Fati and about the squad he will be taking to Brazil for the tournament that starts on Saturday.
When he was asked, "would you have liked to select Ansu Fati?" Gordo answered, "A coach always wants to have the best players. Of course, we would have liked to have Ansu Fati, but the circumstances are what they are and I'm really happy with the 21 players that have travelled with us.
"There are injured boys who have not been able to come and others who are in poor form, but I'm happy with those who come to defend the shirt. They will do everything possible to help us be successful."
wabzidane
1
Barcelona made a smart move by making fati to pretend having an injury so that he would not be taking to the under 17w
TaslimAlamat
4
Ya definitely Spain U17s Coach says: He'd liked to take Fati to the U17 World Cup