Pubill pushes back after surprise Spain role at Wembley

Drafted in at right-back after a warm-up withdrawal, Marc Pubill then found himself in a tense exchange with a reporter.

Marc Pubill

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What happened. Marc Pubill was drafted into Spain's starting eleven against England at Wembley after Eric García felt discomfort in the warm-up and had to be withdrawn. In the mixed zone afterwards, he pushed back on a reporter's account of an early passage in which Gordon got past him on the outside before pulling the ball back.

• Pubill spent his career at right-back before Diego Simeone moved him to centre-back at Atlético.
• The reporter restated that Gordon had gone past him before cutting the ball back.
• Pubill did not concede the point and said the moment had not made him fear a difficult evening.

“It had not.”

— Marc Pubill

The brief exchange stood out in an otherwise routine round of post-match interviews for a player adapting across two positions.

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