In the absence of FIFA’s OK for the change, the winger will not continue after suffering an ankle sprain last Wednesday in Jordan
The worst news has been confirmed for José Gayà. The winger leaves the concentration of the Spanish team due to his sprained right ankle. Despite not being a particularly serious injury, he has weighed the little time remaining until the first game and the possibility that the Valencian player would miss a good part of the group stage.
His departure has been shrouded in mystery until the last second. The Federation published the tweet of his march after one in the afternoon in Qatar, but almost immediately deleted it. In the message, he specified that Gayà was leaving “with the love, recognition and respect of his colleagues and the entire RFEF”. Official confirmation is still missing, but the decision is final. The cause is that the Federation still does not have the official endorsement of FIFA to replace him. A procedure, in any case, since Spain has until Tuesday, 24 hours before its first game, to change any injured player.
Gayà’s goodbye has not been an easy decision. His situation was borderline. Until the last moment it was valued to put up with him within the group and trust in a quick recovery, but Luis Enrique saw it more convenient to call a new guarantee player who could replace him.
The injury from Alicante was fortuitous. A simple slip during pre-game training in Amman. The winger noticed the pain and immediately went to the locker room. Both the first examination by the doctors and the MRI he underwent the next morning gave the same result: “low-grade lateral sprain in the right ankle.” With this diagnosis, the recovery period was estimated at a week, so it was assumed that, despite missing the debut, Gayà would continue with Spain and they would try to get him ready for the second game against Germany (November 27). ).
However, it was Luis Enrique who shattered the optimism when he was asked about the defender as soon as the match against Jordan (1-3) finished: “We will make a decision on the matter, but it is the unpleasant news these days.”
possible substitutes
Gayá, 18 times international, was preparing to play his first World Cup after becoming one of the coach’s fixtures, which already included him in his first call-up when he took office, in September 2018. Since then he has rarely been missing . Despite missing the March and June rallies, he returned to the World Cup race in September, where he ended up winning the spot he now loses.
The last time something similar happened was at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. As now, the problem was on the left side. An injury left Asier del Horno out once the concentration began. In his place came Mariano Pernía, who ended up being the starter for that team ahead of Antonio López.
Against Jordan, it was Aymeric Laporte who started at left-back. Already in the second half, Jordi Alba entered the field, who for the moment remains the only left back waiting for a new player to arrive to play in that position. The main options go through Marcos Alonso and Alejandro Balde, two Barcelona players. Marc Cucurella would be the third option.
