For the general public, Robin Le Normand was the big unknown in Spain's team during the semi-final of the Nations League. The central defender made his debut against Italy (2-1) and did it with great success. He expressed his delight and happiness after the match.
Le Normand performed well in Enschede. In the Grolsch Veste stadium, he unfortunately caused a penalty for the Italians with an unlucky handball, but he held his ground well against Ciro Immobile throughout the match. It's worth noting that the entire defensive center of the Spanish team consisted of born French players. Both Le Normand and his partner Aymeric Laporte were born in France.
The partnership with Laporte pleased the Real Sociedad defender. This contributed to him remaining unfazed even after the penalty incident. "Handballs happen in football. I had to keep a cool head because we still had a long game ahead. I thought we were spectacularly good afterwards," Le Normand commented to Marca.
"I felt very good," said the confident defender. He particularly praised Laporte and veteran Jesus Navas, who played as a right-back. "Navas and Laporte helped me tremendously. They made it actually very easy for me."
Navas became the oldest player ever to wear the national team shirt in Enschede. The 37-year-old Sevilla veteran surpassed the previous record holder, Antoni Ramallets. If Spain overcomes Croatia this weekend, it will claim a major trophy for the first time since 2012.
