Spain are into the semi-finals of the World Cup for only the second time, with their previous appearance in the last four — in 2010 — ending with them lifting the trophy. Standing at the heart of their run is Mikel Merino, a player who feared he might miss the tournament entirely.
In January, Merino suffered an unusual stress fracture in his foot — an injury in an area even specialists had not seen before. It ruled him out for Arsenal and cast serious doubt over his World Cup hopes, with the midfielder unable to return for the Gunners until just a month before the tournament began. Despite that, he not only earned his place in the Spain squad but has become one of their most important players.
Coming off the bench, Merino scored in stoppage time to eliminate Portugal in the last 16, then repeated the feat against Belgium in the quarter-finals — capitalising on a mistake by Lammens to secure Spain’s place in the semi-finals. Spain boss Luis de la Fuente was effusive in his praise. “Mikel is incredible,” the manager said. “He has many qualities. He is a player that across the whole World Cup could have played in whatever team and done great. For us he is the standard of this idea, of this model. It is a pleasure to have him.”
Merino himself admitted that simply being at the tournament had felt unimaginable not long ago. “The fact of being here a few months ago was unthinkable,” he said after the Portugal win. “Now I am at the highest point, enjoying one of the happiest moments of my career.”
Spain’s reward is a semi-final against France, a match that sets up a personal duel between Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal — with the young Spaniard yet to make his mark at this World Cup, in contrast to his French counterpart. A place in the final is at stake.
Image credit: BBC Sport / BBC Sport
