Spurs international watch: Assist and a clean sheet for defender

Starts for Spain are like a London Bus for Tottenham Hotspur defender Pedro Porro. Having not been called up since March, he was trusted to start for a second consecutive game by manager Luis De La Fuente on his return to the national team, as they hosted Serbia on Tuesday night.

Within five minutes, De La Fuente was vindicated. Porro whipped in a corner that Aymeric Laporte was able to nod home from close range, to give the Spurs defender an assist very early on into the game. Apologies for any PTSD caused with that description.

Spain continue to dominate the ball and dominate territory, but could not add a second goal before the interval, going in with a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, the game opened up and the goals came. Despite missing a penalty, Spain would add another two goals and finish with a convincing 3-0 as they continue to go from strength to strength.

It was another fantastic performance from Porro, who really feels at home in the international team. With Dani Carvajal out long term, they’re going to need the Spurs defender and he looks like he is ready to step up to fill the void.

With 90 minutes under his belt, Porro recorded; one clearance, two interceptions, two tackles, 114 touches, six chances created, four accurate crosses, five passes into the final third, four touches in the opposition box, 5/7 ground duels won, seven ball recoveries, three fouls drawn, and three shots – to go with the said assist.

Pretty good stuff when you consider the 25-year old was not even called up to the previous squad in September. The only downside is that no doubt people are going to start taking notice of this.

As for Spain, this win leaves them top of their group with ten points from four games, and their qualification to the knockout stages of the nations league secured, whilst closing in on their status as group winners.