Spain Face World Cup Qualifiers Without Lamine Yamal

Spain will be forced to do without the services of their World Cup qualifiers that are still to come against Georgia and Bulgaria without the teenage sensation Lamine Yamal who has suffered another blow in the progress of his recovery due to a groin injury.

Barcelo, on Friday, confirmed that the 18-year-old will be out of action up to three weeks, which means that he will miss national team duty in this month.

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The injury flared once more when the Barcelona team lost 2-1 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday, the first time Yamal started a game since August. Before that game he had been absent at four fixtures on account of the same difficulty.

This repetition has once again sparked conflict between club and country, with Barcelona coach Hansi Flick in the past criticizing the way Spain dealt with the player. Flick proposed that Yamal was playing in the world cup qualifiers in September, and this aggravated the injury.

Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente, though, failed to buy the idea of a feud. Reacting to the criticism by Flick when De la Fuente announced his squad on Friday, the coach stressed that it was not hostility.

It did not conflict with Flick, De la Fuente said. His words surprised me because he himself has been a coach of a national team and I expected him to be aware of the situation. The best thing however is that we have two very important matches ahead of us. This is the part of the world cup we are playing and it should be the emphasis of the playing and not the hoopla.

Although Flick admitted to having sent De la Fuente a short message after he criticized him, both parties intimated that they might get in touch with each other. On Friday de la Fuente tried to resolve the controversy and he minimized the gravity of the problem of Yamal.

He felt a bit unwell, as he said, after the PSG game. But I have many matches myself when I was playing uncomfortable–it is usual in football. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Our doctors have examined it, and that is all that there is to it.

The injury has also heightened more concerns in Barcelona since Yamal might not be able to play the much-anticipated El Clasico game against Real Madrid on October 26, due to the timeliness of the injury. The loss of the young forward in such an important game would be a great setback to the Flick squad.

The injury problems of Spain do not end with Yamal. Nico Williams, Athletic Bilbao, will also be out after he developed a groin issue in the 6-0 win against Turkey in his club. It has been reported that Bilbao had already asked that the workload of the winger be carefully handled because of a persistent discomfort. Dani Carvajal is also out and striker Alvaro Morata has not been included in the squad after a poor start of his season with Como.

De la Fuente tried to put the injuries into perspective, saying that it is an inescapable aspect of the game. In football there is always a risk. Those risks are taken provided that a player is fit to play on behalf of his club. That is the way it is in the sport,” he said.

Regardless of the absences, Spain are well placed as they head into the qualifiers. They are now leading Group E with 6 points of two games. Georgia will play at La Roja on October 11 in Elhe and then at Valladolid on October 14, as they seek another step towards a guaranteed place at the 2026 world cup.The lack of Yamal is, of course, a disappointment to Spain and Barcelona, as he has gained rapid popularity during the last year. But De la Fuente and his team will have to adapt fast with their minds still on the qualifiers to keep going and the hope that the teenager could resume in good time to give the match against Real Madrid later in the month