Luis Rubiales, the President of the Spanish Football Federation, has announced that the estadio Martínez Valero will host the Spanish national team versus Croatia on September 11, in new Nations League, a tournament introduced by UEFA to eliminate meaningless International friendlies.
Spain and Croatia have been drawn alongside England in Group A4.
Spain last played in the franjiverde coliseum in 2008, when the team, at that time managed by Luis Aragonés beat Italy 1-0, thanks to a goal by David Villa.
The event was held in the Hospitality suite of the stadium, where Rubiales was joined, amongst others, by the President of Elche, Diego García, the Elche team coach, Pacheta and Carlos González, mayor of Elche.
Rubiales, who received a club shirt, justified the selection of Elche saying that it is a “magnificent stadium, that is a living history of football. It is the ideal place to play this game.”
The president of the RFEF said that Spain-Croatia is the first international match after the World Cup and said “it will be a dream fulfilled for many people who have been waiting for ten years to see their national side”.
