Joselu hits late winner to send Spain past Italy and into Nations League final

Joselu, the man who waited 14 years for a Spain call-up and then scored twice within three minutes of coming on for his debut, has gone and done it again. Introduced with five minutes left in the semi-final of the Nations League against Italy, his second substitute appearance for the national team at the age of 33, he had only been on the pitch for two of them when his moment came. Picaresque, he called it: lurking near the goalline, a crafty little wave of the boot edged the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma and the seleccion into Sunday’s final against Croatia.

Born in Germany, the former Newcastle and Stoke striker – a veteran of 10 different clubs in three different countries who was relegated with Espanyol this season – has some record for Spain: three games played, three goals scored. In the 84th, 85th and 88th minutes. And now, maybe, a winners’ medal on the way, too. “It’s a question of faith,” he said. With the score at 1-1 in Rotterdam and the match heading to extra time, which was the last thing anyone wanted, he decided to hang around the keeper and wait to “see what happened”. What happened was that he became a hero.

The move built by Ansu Fati, Jordi Alba and Rodri had broken down but the ball came back to the Manchester City midfielder to strike from the edge of the area. It took one deflection, then another and dropped right in front of the Italian keeper and just a toe away from the Spanish forward. A gentle touch was enough to end it at 2-1, everyone going wild. In the stands, his wife started to cry. Spain had done it; they had deserved it too, eventually at least.

Spain had been rescued from going behind near the half-hour by the VAR, just at the point at which they appeared most vulnerable. Unable to