Ansu Fati makes history as Spain thump Ukraine
07 September, 2020
Ansu Fati became the youngest goalscorer in the annals of the Spanish national team on Sunday by scoring in Spain's 4-0 win over Ukraine.
Aged 17 years and 311 days, Fati scored in the 32nd minute at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium, when he cut in from the left and curled in to the bottom corner.
It came after a spell-binding opening half an hour from the youngster, whose driving run had already earned a penalty for Sergio Ramos to convert.
Ramos then headed in to make it two before Fati made history on his begin for Spain, beating the country's previous youngest scorer, Juan Errazquin, who scored three goals aged 18 against Switzerland in 1925.
Manchester City's new signing Ferran Torres made it four late on as Spain registered their first victory in this season's Nations League to go top of League A's Group 4.
Luis Enrique's side had opened with a 1-1 draw on Thursday against Germany, whose second game ended in another 1-1 draw away at Switzerland.
Fati impressed off the bench against Germany, enough to be handed his begin by Luis Enrique on the left of Spain's front three.
He took his chance by putting on a mesmerising display, the only shame that there were no fans in the stadium to view it.
"At that age it's simple to get birds in your head," said Luis Enrique afterwards. "But he's mature enough to know that the path he's taking is a good to take as a player. He's quiet and humble."
- Fati confidence 'not normal' -
Fati is now the youngest player to score for Spain, for Barca in La Liga and the youngest to score in the Champions League as well.
"When we pick the squad, we don't consider the age," Luis Enrique added. "It doesn't mean you don't need to recognize that he'll play bad games and he'll make plenty of mistakes. It's part of learning but that kind of confidence isn't normal."
Born in Guinea-Bissau, Fati and his family moved to Seville when he was a boy. He joined Barcelona's La Masia academy aged 10 and made his first team debut at the start of last season, becoming the next youngest player ever to play for the club.
He became the their youngest ever scorer in La Liga after scoring off the bench versus Osasuna and then scored on his begin for the Catalans too, against Valencia in September, aged 16.
The very next day, Barcelona newspaper Mundo Deportivo wrote "A star exists" and he continued breaking records by hitting the winner against Inter Milan in the Champions League in December.
Fati was expected to be given his debut for Spain earlier this season but he had to hold back as fixtures were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ukraine never surely got to grips with the winger, who won a penalty in the 3rd minute, converted by Ramos, and almost scored with a bicycle kick.
He fired wide of the far post after another darting dribble down the left and after Ramos headed in, he finally scored, cutting in from the left and ripping the ball in to the far bottom corner.
Spain eased up in the next half but there was still time for a fourth, Torres finishing well at the trunk post to cap a memorable night.
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