Arsenal midfielder Fran Mérida Perez was on target twice yesterday evening as Spain Under 19’s thrashed Belarus 4-0 to all but seal a place in next summers European Championships.
Fran played the 90 minutes against the Faroe Islands last week, a 5-0 victory in that fixture set the tone ahead of this one, and the rampant Spaniards showed no sign of taking things easy.
Within the first 15 minutes a Mérida double had stunned the hosts – and with it – all but secured the win. The two efforts offered security to Luis Milla’s team, who would then step up a gear – with deadly consequences. Dani Aquino made it three in two games, before Rochela sealed proceedings.
The 6 points should be enough to make sure España play in finals, with the aim clearly being to progress from the group. Mérida’s absence from the opening game of last years competition showed, and although the 18-year-old returned with an assist and a goal, the damage was already done.
Better is expected next year, and with Fran already getting Carling Cup experience this term with Arsenal, he is set to be one of the star performers of the Tournament.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Merida future legend !!
How close is Merida to the first team at Arsenal? Is there any hope for this season?
He is a first team player, he started in the Carling Cup, he is in the Champions League squad, (the 25) so yes he is first team.
Jamie this is only the first round of the UEFA U19’s competition, Spain will have to finish first in the Elite round of competition which is the next group after this one if they want to go to the finals same goes for England as well
The news on the youngsters is what keeps many of us Arsenal fans sane these days. Even if we have a team without a defender that can head the ball or a DM that can close down spaces, at least we can look at the future and dream of all the prospects we got.
Thumbs up for Merida. He is doing good with the rare opportunities he gets. He will be a fantastic player, I am sure of that. That might not be for Arsenal though, with Fabregas, Wilshere and Ramsey all at the club. But keep on going Fran and you will get there. Hopefully we can see you soon in the EPL. Against Hull, for example, I would have liked to see Merida. In the end I had just planted him outside the box to shoot at goal. He is probably our best long shooter (superior to the unstable RvP), so that would have pushed Hull further up to close him down.
I bliv song will do well if given a run of games in d team. I also feel Merida shud b used on d left as backup 2 Rosicky and Nasri now dat d center is packed or else we would av 2 sell him off.
Can’t wait to him him at the European Champiosnhips and U20 WC in the Summer.
Ive just slated traore-bashers on the previous article. However if it was a choice between Traore and Merida then Merida wins hands down. Creative, skillfull, great passing, great shooting and can cross not to mention play accross the midfield.
The fact that he stands out in all the spanish youth sides hes played in says it all cuz at that level they lead the way as far as Europe are concerned.
Cnt disagree with Stone, we could have used Merida in the last two league games.
One question, is he two footed J? I know hes naturally a left footer but i swear ive seen him cross, shoot and score even with his right before. I might be mistaken however.
“The news on the youngsters is what keeps many of us Arsenal fans sane these days. Even if we have a team without a defender that can head the ball or a DM that can close down spaces, at least we can look at the future and dream of all the prospects we got.”
Couldent agree more. Its got to the point where you cant help feel maybe we should just stick Coquelin into the DM position next to Fabregas for a few games and hope for the best.
Alex Song could do the job but like Flamini hes going to take a few seasons to really be ready, and unlike the Flamini situation we dont have a Gilberto Silva to play. Denilson is a good player but hes not a DM, Diaby could be but again, likt Song hes still not ready to be a fixture in the starting line-up.
Have any of the other arsenal players played under 19s this week
I read an interview with Cesc who confirmed that Mark Randell and Fran Merida both train with the 1st team squad now rather than the reserves squad
Now Traore must be called up for the U-21 side for France pretty soon. Who are you guessing will play in the U-20 next summer? I’m guessing these will at least be up for the contest:
England: Wilshere, Gibbs, Lansbury, Hoyte and Murphy
France: Traore, Coquelin, Sunu
Poland: Sczezny
Brazil: Pedro?
Norway: Nordveit
Portugal: Fonte
Netherlands: Barazite
Spain: Merida
Denmark: Rasmussen?
Some of these countries won’t qualify and some of these players will not be selected due to ability or age but I’m guessing we might have a large number of players there. Ramsey could even play for Wales but he might be too good for that level.
i really think merida in the same mould as rosicky. center midfield by nature but more effective on the flank. he creative, fast, good dribbler and can shoot well. if things going well, he will be a fantastic player for arsenal.
I’d like to see Merida play a little more for the first team, we do seem to struggle with a left sided player, especially in a 4-5-1 formation. I totally agree, he is like Rosicky, so some more match time can only be a good thing.