Mikel Merino stepped off the bench and scored the decisive goal for the second successive game, sending Spain into the World Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 victory against Belgium. The Arsenal midfielder's latest heroics mean Spain return to the last four for only the second time – the last occasion, in 2010, they went on to lift the trophy.
Merino's winner came after he pounced on a mistake by Belgium goalkeeper Lammens, repeating the stoppage-time strike that eliminated Portugal in the last 16. For a player who could not even be sure of making the squad a few months ago, his impact has been extraordinary.
“Mikel Merino's second successive decisive goal sends Spain into World Cup semi-finals with 2-1 win over Belgium.”
In January, Merino suffered a stress fracture in his foot – an unusual injury in an area even specialists had not seen before. It ruled him out of action for Arsenal and cast huge doubt on his World Cup hopes. He only returned to the Gunners a month before the tournament began.
Yet not only did he earn his place in Spain's squad, he is now proving an invaluable match-winner. “Mikel is incredible,” Spain boss Luis de la Fuente said after the quarter-final. “He has many qualities. He is a player that across the whole World Cup could have played in whatever team and done great. For us he is the standard of this idea, of this model. It is a pleasure to have him, and others but especially him. We know that without fail he is always there.”
Merino himself admitted he could not have imagined this moment. “The fact of being here a few months ago was unthinkable,” he said after the Portugal win. “Now I am at the highest point, enjoying one of the happiest moments of my career. Now I remember all those bad moments, all the people who have supported me, all the people who have pushed me when even I sometimes found it difficult to believe I could be here.”
The win sets up a semi-final meeting with France and a mouthwatering showdown between Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal – though the Spanish teenager, by contrast, is yet to make his mark on this World Cup. For now, it is Merino, the super sub no one expected to be here, who carries Spain forward.