David Raya dodged questioning over a potential Euro 2024 quarter-final meeting with Arsenal team-mate Kai Havertz after Spain’s 1-0 victory over Albania, insisting the last-16 remains the main focus for the time being.
Spain secured their place in the round of 16 with a 100 per cent record at the group stage, seeing off the challenge of Croatia, defending champions Italy and Albania without conceding a single goal.
Luis de la Fuente’s men had widely been considering outsiders ahead of the European Championships but have quickly established themselves as one of the most feared teams in the tournament, along with Group A winners Germany.
While the last-16 picture is still far from complete, Spain know that a clash against a third-placed team from Group A, D, E or F awaits, ahead of a potential quarter-final contest with Havertz and the tournament hosts.
Asked about fans and pundits beginning to view Spain as favourites, Raya told Hayters: ‘We don’t want to think about that. We have to be focussed on ourselves and don’t think too much about the outside, focus on the group.
‘The group, the staff, we have a fantastic group and we are like a big family.
‘We don’t want to focus on the outside or what people say, what people think and everything. We have to be focussed on the present and focus now on training and recovery and so on.’
Raya could be forgiven for craving a break after a disappointing end to the season at club level with Arsenal but the goalkeeper insisted it was ‘fantastic’ to be given the opportunity this summer with Spain.
‘No, it’s a fantastic thing to come back to. It’s a dream to represent your country, especially on one of the biggest stages in the world,’ he said.
‘Having the opportunity to be here, it’s a dream to come to represent your country.
‘We know that the season with Arsenal we didn’t get what we wanted, but now we are focussed on the national team and trying to help the team as much as possible.’
Asked whether he had spoken to any of his Arsenal team-mates at the Euros, Raya replied: ‘I spoke with a few of them, obviously, congratulating people.
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‘I saw Jorginho the other day and of course we have a really good group over there so we keep in touch, yeah.’
On the prospect of a reunion with Havertz in the quarter-finals, he added: ‘I’m looking forward to tomorrow, I’m looking forward to the next game.
‘We don’t know what’s going to happen in the quarter-finals so the main thing now is tomorrow, enjoy the win today, and go back tomorrow to our camp.
‘That is really, really important, training and recovery, so we just focus on the present.’
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