Beyond being a staunch fan of the Argentine national team, in which I have my hopes for the elk to be in the World Cup, both for the level, relevance and rapport of its different players, as well as for being the last chance to see Leo Messi raising this trophy, the truth is that a part of me is always aware of what happens with Luis Enrique's La Roja, because for what I conceive as good football, this team has the greatest potential to develop it, beyond the irregular pace of the last games, where they qualified for the final phase of the Nations League more by character and insistence, than by the game shown.

Como no podía ser de otro forma, la lista final del técnico español ha causado mucha controversia, ya que por su pasado blaugrana, pero sobre todo porque el juego del Barcelona se asemeja más a su idea futbolística, este llamó en su mayoría jugadores de este club, dejando a otros clubes un poco más en las sombras, como el Real Madrid, que apenas tiene dos convocados. La lista de 26 jugadores no tiene demasiadas sorpresas en comparación a otros planteles, a excepción de 3 o 4 jugadores, pero lo que más me llamó la atención fue la juventud de la misma, pues en instancias decisivas esto puede ser un arma de doble filo.

How could it be otherwise, the final list of the Spanish coach has caused a lot of controversy, since due to his Blaugrana past, but above all because Barcelona's game is more similar to his football idea, he called mostly players from this club, leaving other clubs a little more in the shadows, like Real Madrid, which barely has two called up. The list of 26 players does not have too many surprises compared to other teams, except for 3 or 4 players, but what caught my attention the most was its youth, because in decisive instances this can be a double-edged sword.

I am going to analyze most of the players line by line and what I think this team will be, with a final reflection by Luis Enrique, some of the controversies and to what extent I think this team will arrive in Qatar.

Portería / Goalkeepers:

This is the line that has the fewest surprises, as both Unai Simón, Robert Sánchez and David Raya have been the players who have accompanied Luis Enrique in the national team in recent times. As always, leaving David De Gea out of the World Cup will always raise doubts, but seeing how Spain defends in a more advanced block and the need that the goalkeeper must have to get out well with his feet, this decision is understandable, although it has always seemed to me that the call for the last two is one more prize for their level, their relevance, and that they go to death with the coach's ideas, something basic knowing his personality.

As it is not a secret for anyone, the holder of Spain will be the goalkeeper of Athletic Bilbao Unai Simón.

Defensa / Defenders:

In the central saga we have the first surprise on this list, as Athletic Bilbao's central defender, Iñigo Martínez, was finally excluded, leaving in his place Hugo Guillamon, a young Valencia player, who can bring more versatility to the team. The rest of those summoned are Aymeric Laporte, Pau Torres and Eric García, three defenders widely used by Luis Enrique, and although the young Barcelona central defender is a risky bet due to his mistakes, his game output is one of the best in the world, something essential in the scheme of La Roja.

The right backs will be Dani Carvajal and César Azpilicueta, two players who will play for the position, since both have a high level, and seeing the rest of the other options, there is not much discussion in this election. On the left-handed wing, José Gayà and Jordi Alba were the two chosen, leaving out Marcos Alonso, a player who could also contribute a lot due to his versatility, or Marc Cucurella, one of the most expensive defenders in history, but even so I think that there is not much discussion here either, and although the third in discord for many was the young Alejandro Balde, his irruption was not enough for Luis Enrique to take him to consider.

The starting defensive line for me will be made up of Alba, Laporte, Pau Torres and Dani Carvajal, although seeing what was done in the last European Championship, it should not surprise anyone to see constant rotations and many minutes of Eric García, a player who has all the confidence of the Spanish coach.

Mediocampo / Midfielders:

In the midfield there were no surprises either, Sergio Busquets will be in charge of La Roja's engine room, while Rodri will be his replacement, although many rotations in this position cannot be ruled out either.

In the interiors is where there are surprises, for a long time it has been known of the distrust of the coach in Thiago Alcántara and Fabián Ruiz, who despite their great qualities, have hardly been taken into account. Pedri looks set to be the team's undisputed starter despite his youth, but his level, personal distinctions and current situation at Barcelona are very strong reasons to bet on him, while Koke, Gavi, Llorente or Soler will compete for the last place in the medullary, being the Atlético de Madrid player the most versatile, so I see him adding a few minutes in this position.

For me there is no starting player beyond the two mentioned, but I see Koke with some advantage, since beyond his irregular season at Atlético, he will provide more solvency to a midfield that can look fragile, while Gavi and Soler will be two shocks of great quality.

Delantera / Strikers:

This line was the one that generated the most surprises for me, since it only called a center forward, Álvaro Morata, a man who has been Luis Enrique's bet since he arrived in Spain, surprisingly leaving Borja Iglesias out despite his great moment of form, or others with greater experience in the national team like Gerard Moreno, although this lack of rhythm due to a recent injury could have been a very important reason. Similarly, the eternal left aside, Iago Aspas, was not taken into account either.

The inclusion of Ansu Fati is a partial surprise, since he has already been called up despite not being in ideal form, so seeing the rest of the players called up, I get the impression that Luis Enrique will play with a false 9 , a position that perhaps will be occupied by Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo or even the Barcelona youth squad himself. These could also play without any problem on the wings, where Nico Williams for me has to have a lot of minutes due to his spectacular appearance this season at Athletic and against Portugal a few months ago, while Marco Asensio, Yeremy Pino and Pablo Sarabia will raise the competition, so adding minutes will be very complicated.

As in defense, I expect a lot of rotations, and unlike other tournaments, this time I see Morata more as a revulsive than as an undisputed starter, so I would bet on Torres, Asensio and Olmo as starters in the first match in Spain against Costa Rica.

Conclusiones / Conclusions:

Beyond what I said, Guillamon's call for Iñigo Martínez really came as a surprise to me, a fixture in the rest of Luis Enrique's process at La Roja, so for anyone who followed the coach's work there, this call it could be seen coming, no matter how much anyone can be startled by it. The Spanish coach is one of the best today, his arrogance and strong hand, which can almost be seen as a dictatorship, are a badge of his work, and although he has not yet won a title with Spain, he has managed to keep it in the front page.

This is not a generation of players as incredible as previous processes, where they managed to win two consecutive European Championships and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but sticking to the most recent results in Spain, and the generation of footballers that has gradually flourished , we can not rule out this team, although they are obviously in a second step.

After all this analysis, I am not going to risk it and say something like they will be champions, but beyond Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and France, especially because of their players and not so much because of their current status, there are not too many candidate teams to be champions, so I think that together with Denmark, Spain will be one of the surprises and I see them reaching the semi-finals, regardless of what they do in the group stage against Germany, who are undoubtedly the favorites to win their group.