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Herrera: I'll frame my Spain debut shirt

 

16/11/2016 17:06, Report by Mark Froggatt

Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera plans to frame the Spain shirt that he wore when making his full international debut as a substitute against England at Wembley Stadium.
The 27-year-old had represented every junior age group of the national team prior to making his senior bow on Tuesday, when he stepped off the bench to replace Thiago Alcantara in the 56th minute.

Spain were trailing 2-0 at that stage of the friendly following Adam Lallana’s penalty and Jamie Vardy’s second-half strike, but they admirably fought back to claim a dramatic 2-2 draw thanks to a couple of late goals from former Liverpool striker Iago Aspas and Real Madrid midfielder Isco.

The nature of the unlikely comeback only added to what was a special occasion for United’s former Real Zaragoza and Athletic Club star. "Wembley is the best stage for a debut," Herrera told the media after the match. "It was so exciting and an honour to represent my country. I will have to frame the shirt."

On Spain's performance and team spirit, Ander said: "We will take pride from this performance and fightback. That showed our footballing ability and character. We finished the game very strongly and whilst it was important to beat Macedonia, tonight we showed our fighting spirit.

"Another team would have surrendered but we did not give up and that shows our quality as a team, it shows the togetherness of our group."

Herrera uploaded a photo from his debut to his Instagram account with the caption "I will never forget this night." He also featured in an amusing video uploaded by David De Gea, showing Juan Mata and the entire Spain squad taking part in the latest social-media craze, the mannequin challenge.

 
Omeruo, Echiejile should focus on defending – Dombraye

Kenneth Omeruo

Festus Abu

Former international Eddy Dombraye has questioned the Super Eagles’ defending on the flanks, saying  defenders Kenneth Omeruo and Elderson Echiejile were guilty of taking unnecessary risks in Saturday’s Russia 2018 World Cup Group B qualifier against Algeria in Uyo.

Nigeria won the encounter 3-1 to move four points clear on top of the table, followed by their eternal rivals Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions  in the second place on two points.

The Eagles are set to face four-time African champions Cameroon in a Russia 2018 qualifying double-header next year, with  the fixtures likely to decide the winners of the sole ticket in the group.

Nigeria host  the Indomitable Lions in the first leg qualifying clash on August 28, 2017, with the Central Africans receiving the Eagles on September  2, 2017 in the return leg.

And Ukraine-based Dombraye, who represented Nigeria at the 1999 FIFA Under-20 World Cup on home soil, has warned Turkey-based Omeruo and Belgium-based Echiejile against venturing downfield in an attempt to play in the attackers against Cameroon, saying the Eagles could pay dearly for their defensive mistakes.

“The Eagles played a great game against Algeria and we should commend them for their efforts,” the former Poland-based forward told our correspondent on the telephone on Wednesday.

“But our defenders need to step up a little bit, particularly Omeruo and Echiejile, who are good players.

“In our game against Algeria, Omeruo and Echiejile lost the ball frequently going upfront.

“We were lucky that our centre-backs (William Troost-Ekong and Leon Balogun) are good players.”

 The former Volyn Lutsk and LKS Lodz attacker added, “They (Omeruo and Echiejile) should  focus on their roles as defenders and stop gambling. This could be dangerous against Cameroon, who are a strong team.

“We can’t afford to lose to Cameroon because we need the two games (double-header) more than them. I think we will beat them.”

Dombraye  heaped praise on Premier League attacking duo Victor Moses and  Ahmed Musa for their performances against Algeria. Chelsea star Moses scored a brace in the encounter.

He added, “Musa came in to do a good job by creating a chance for Moses to score our third goal when we came under pressure from  the Algerians.”