David Raya was substituted at half time during Spain’s friendly against Colombia (Picture: Getty)
David Raya’s half-time substitution against Colombia was pre-planned by Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente.
The Arsenal No.1 is battling it out with the likes of Unai Simon and Alejandro Remiro to be La Roja’s first choice goalkeeper for this summer’s European Championships.
Raya has played a key role in helping the Gunners rise to the Premier League summit with Mikel Arteta’s side boasting the meanest defence in the English top flight.
The 28-year-old, currently on loan from Brentford, was the start of the show in therecent Champions League penalty shootout win over Porto, saving two of the four spot kicks he faced, to underline his status as Arteta’s go to man between the sticks.
Raya started in goal for his country last night and was largely untroubled during the opening 45 minutes.
The former Blackburn star was taken off at the interval, however, and was replaced by debutant Remiro.
Unfortunately for the Real Sociedad shot-stopper, he was beaten just after the hour mark when Daniel Munoz timed his run to the far post perfectly and converted an inch-perfect Luis Diaz cross.
Spain and David Raya were beaten 1-0 by Colombia at the London Stadium (Picture: Getty)
Luis Diaz helped create Colombia’s winning goal against Spain (Picture: Getty)
The Spain manager also handed senior debuts to 17-year-old Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi, who came off the bench late in the second-half.
Without the likes of stalwarts Rodri and Dani Carvajal, it was no surprise to see Spain struggle to find a way back into the contest.
De La Fuente, however, was pleased to get an opportunity to assess how his international rookies coped against opposition who are now 18 matches unbeaten.
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‘We wanted them to live this experience. They are important players with a great future. They still have a long career ahead of them,’ De La Fuente told Spanish channel TVE.
‘We learn more from defeats than from victories. We are satisfied with a lot of things. We wanted to test ourselves and continue to improve.’
Spain face Brazil at the Bernabeu on Tuesday and will play Andorra in June before Euro 2024. Colombia also head to Madrid next, to face Romania at Atletico’s Wanda Metropolitano.
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