Ansu Fati on Sunday announced his arrival in international soccer after becoming the youngest goalscorer for Spain in a 4-0 thumping of Ukraine that put them top of their UEFA Nations League group.
Barcelona forward Fati put Spain three goals ahead after 31 minutes of the League A, Group 4 clash at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano in Madrid with a fine individual strike that came amid a scintillating debut start for his adopted nation.
Aged 17 years, 311 days, Fati, who was born in Guinea-Bissau and obtained Spanish nationality a year ago after moving to Spain when he was seven, beat the previous record held by Juan Errazquin, who scored three goals aged 18 against Switzerland in 1925.
Photo: AP
“As soon as I was showered and changed I called my family — they are the people who have helped me reach this day and who always help me overcome challenges,” Fati said. “I’ll ask all the guys to sign this Spain shirt and it’ll go up on the wall in a special place in my house.”
Having already won the penalty that captain Sergio Ramos converted just two minutes after kickoff, he could have scored just minutes before finding the net when his overhead-kick from close range was unwittingly cleared just as it looked to be heading in.
Fati’s strike — a curling shot after fine footwork on the edge of penalty area — came just three minutes after Ramos had put Spain 2-0 ahead with a looping header from Dani Olmo’s cross.
Ferran Torres completed the rout five minutes from the end.
The win leaves Spain top of Group 4 on four points, one ahead of Ukraine, but more importantly two in front of Germany, who were held to a second consecutive 1-1 draw, this time by Switzerland.
Ilkay Gundogan gave Germany the lead on 14 minutes, but Switzerland rightback Silvan Widmer equalized for the hosts just before the hour mark in Basel.
It was the second time in as many matches that Joachim Loew’s team had failed to capitalize on going ahead after conceding an equalizer in the seventh minute of stoppage-time against Spain on Thursday last week.
Earlier, Russia carried on their strong start in League B, Group 3 with a 3-2 win over Hungary in Budapest that would have been less tense had they not switched off when 3-0 up.
Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov said it was “unacceptable” that his team let the hosts back into the match.
“Two games, two wins — that’s the main thing and besides, we’ve now got food for thought before the next games,” Cherchesov said.
In the other match in the group, Serbia were held to a 0-0 draw by Turkey.
Wales also maintained their perfect record in Group 4 following teenager Neco Williams’ last-gasp header which gave them a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bulgaria.
Williams’ first goal in professional football made it four successive wins in all competitions for Wales and leaves Ryan Giggs’ side top of the group on six points.
They are three ahead of Finland, who earned a 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin thanks to Fredrik Jensen’s strike just seconds after coming on midway through the second half.
In League C, Group 3, Slovenia defeated Moldova 1-0 and Greece won 2-1 in Kosovo.
In League D, Group 1, Malta were held to a 1-1 draw by Latvia and the Faroe Islands won 1-0 in Andorra.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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