Yesterday we noted that if former Newcastle United striker Joselu Mato was given his Spain debut against Norway he’d become their oldest debutant for 17 years. Well, he did and he did it in style too.
Joselu was Newcastle‘s main attacking threat in the Premier League during the Rafa Benitez days, which tells you all you need to know about the state of the club back then.
However, since the Magpies moved the Spaniard on for just £1.7million to Alaves, Joselu has gone from strength to strength and currently sits joint third in the La Liga top scorers chart having scored 12 goals for his new club Espanyol.
Joselu is getting better with age
His exploits this season earned the man turning 33 tomorrow his first senior international call up for Spain for their Euro 2024 qualifiers against Norway and Scotland.
Coming off the bench on 81 minutes Joselu wasted no time in announcing his arrival on the international scene, nodding home his first goal for his country two minutes later.
But the Premier League flop wasn’t willing to stop there, poking him his second and Spain’s third on 85 minutes. A stunning four-minutes for the man who couldn’t hit a barn door at St James’ Park.
There was a player in there all along
Joselu has aged like a fine wine and it’s clear that the Spanish game is much more suited to his style of play. He got a lot of stick during his time at Newcastle, mostly from me to be honest, but it’s great to see him thriving.
Maybe Rafa Benitez knew what a player we had on our hands and that’s why he persisted with him. It’s just a shame that he couldn’t do it in the English game.