Spain coach Luis de la Fuente was forced to change his usual formation for Tuesday’s semifinal against France with a number of players suspended or injured.
Spain paid the price for its dramatic win over Germany and defenders Dani Carvajal and Robin le Normand are suspended. They are replaced by Jesús Navas and Nacho and will be tasked with marking France star striker Kylian Mbappé.
Navas is set to become the oldest-ever outfield player to appear in a semifinal at a major international tournament at 38 years and 231 days old.
Midfielder Pedri was forced off in the eighth minute against Germany with a knee injury following a hefty challenge from Toni Kroos and has been ruled out of the rest of Euro 2024. He has been replaced by Dani Olmo — who came on for the 21-year-old and went on to score the opener as well as set up Mikel Merino’s winner in the last minute of extra time.
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The only time De la Fuente had changed his starting lineup was when he sat key players like Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams for Spain’s final group game, a 1-0 win against Albania.
France coach Didier Deschamps has dropped the underperforming Antoine Griezmann and replaced him with Ousmane Dembélé, who came on for a a scintillating player of the match cameo against Portugal.
Adrien Rabiot returns from suspension, with Eduardo Camavinga dropping back to the bench in the only other change from the quarterfinal against Portugal, that France won on penalties after the match ended 0-0.
The winner will play England or the Netherlands in the final on Sunday in Berlin.
Teams
Spain: Unai Simón, Nacho, Álvaro Morata, Fabián Ruiz, Dani Olmo, Aymeric Laporte, Rodri, Nico Williams, Lamine Yamal, Jesús Navas, Marc Cucurella.
France: Mike Maignan, Dayot Upamecano, Jules Koundé, Aurélien Tchouameni, Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Randal Kolo Muani, N’Golo Kanté, Adrien Rabiot, William Saliba, Theo Hernández.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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