The rebirth of Isco by Betis and the open door of the Spanish national team

The Spanish call it remontada, the surprise and surprise comeback before defeat seems imminent. A term used, among other things, during Barcelona’s surprise against Paris Saint-Germain, when Paris’ 4-0 defeat in the Champions League round of 16 in March 2017 was converted into a 6-1 defeat at the Camp Nou a few days later, which gave them Qualification brought us to the La Liga team when the away goals rule still applied.

The Spaniards also use this term to describe the return to the highest level that he is striving for Iscoafter the 31-year-old terminated his contract with Sevilla in December 2022, before a deal between the former Real Madrid player and Union Berlin fell through at the last minute in January 2023, leaving the midfielder without a club until their summer transfer window.

At that time, Betis took advantage of this special situation and Isco signed for his former club’s arch-enemy. The Spanish international seized the opportunity he was looking for and appeared on the pitch like a new man. He has already scored three goals and two assists in 14 appearances for “b”.erdiblanco”.

His performance in the game on Sunday (October 29) against Osasuna, in which he decided the game with a goal in the 94th minute (where he also provided the assist for Betis’ first goal), brought him the seventh win this year MVP award a game for his team in La Liga. The only one with more is Jude Bellingham with eight.

But what makes him unique is his creative abilities and at the same time his defensive contribution, especially in the tackles, with Isco belonging to a closed club as he is – for now – one of the four midfielders in the top 5 leagues in Europe, which exceeds 10 Have shots on goal, more than 10 chances, more than 10 tackles and more than 10 successful dribbles (Bellingham, James Maddison and Abdoulaye Doucoure are the other three).

Isco has not played for Spain since June 2019 and started in two Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Sweden. Despite taking part in the qualification, he was left out of the squad for the 2021 tournament due to a lack of playing time and pace at Real.

Now, with his performances, the eye of the federation’s coach, Luis de la Fuente, is on him, and Isco recently told reporters about the possibility of his return to the “furious rocha”: “I hope that I can return to the national team, it is the greatest success for a footballer. I’m happy with my work, but the national team depends on what I do on the pitch. When this reward comes one day, I will be happy“.