25 passes, 66 touches, and 11 players' possession for the goal reflect Spain's indoor game: "If they make us the favorites for the World Cup, we'll go all out."

Chasing shadows. That's all Turkey could manage against a team that's frightening . These aren't sensations, it's not just a show of authority, it's data. Any team that wears the European champion patch on its shirt does so, but Spain only needed 45 minutes to show that it's an unbridled team with brilliant play, talent, balance, audacity, and goals. In case anyone had any doubts after forgiving Bulgaria , in Konya, everything became crystal clear to the Turks in just one play.

Pedri threw the first bucket of cold water on hell, sitting down his captain Çalhanoglu with a feint and setting up an unstoppable right-footed shot for goalkeeper Çakir. Lamine also outwitted them, dodging tackles on his run down the wing to get into the box, but his left-footed shot lacked any venom. But in the 22nd minute, the Turks understood what was coming. They were petrified by a goal from Mikel Merino and were unable to react for the remaining 70 minutes of the match. Spain, as if their players were pinball pieces, took the ball from their own goal into the back of the Turkish net without them even being able to smell it.

The 11 players De la Fuente started—the same ones who started against Bulgaria—all handled the ball exquisitely in that play, from Unai Simón at the start of the move to Mikel Merino. There were 25 passes, 66 touches of the ball, one minute and 15 seconds of possession, with no Turk able to stop them. It was a true indoor game in the national team's best match of the De la Fuente era. And he sharpened his teeth even further. There are many Spanish bogeymen who frighten opponents. " This generation of players never tires of improving , of becoming a little better every day. And I'm the first to be surprised. There's little to say to them," the coach summed up.

Pedri is in charge, capable of adding one stroke of genius after another, to which he's now adding goals. "Everyone's telling me to shoot more, to try. I'm trying, and it's feeling good. The result reflects the intensity with which we came out. It was a perfect match," confessed the Canary Islander, who doesn't resort to false modesty when asked how Spain's rivals will view them: "If they want to make us favorites for the World Cup, we'll go all out."

Lamine's mistakes and Merino's hat trick

The crowd wasn't focused on him, but on Lamine Yamal , hissing thunderously every time he picked up the ball, further fueling his audacity. Spain found in him a weapon to shake up opponents like never before. Infallible in one-on-one situations, he wasn't perfect in everything. The goal was denied him. He had a chance to score the third, a gift from Pedri on the penalty spot that inexplicably went high, and he looked for it again with an individual move in which he ignored Oyarzabal's best shooting position. He wanted to score, but he didn't. "He whispered in my ear to give him one, but everyone up front wanted to score their goal," Pedri confessed. He couldn't assist his Barça teammate, but he did assist Merino, with a back pass on the edge of the area just before the referee sent them to the locker room.

Lamine returned to the field after the break determined to crown his performance with a goal, but without being selfish. That's why he gifted the fourth to Ferran , who had come off at the end of the first half due to Nico Williams' groin injury .

The Valencian has scored 22 goals for the national team, the same number as Sergio Ramos and Di Stéfano . He won the ball in a jump in midfield and, in a counterattack led by Pedri and Lamine, reached the penalty area to receive the final pass and shoot past Çakir.

Before De la Fuente sent him to the bench, Lamine still had time to assist Mikel Merino again, who completed his first career hat trick and spun around again at the corner flag. There are doubts about whether the ball touched Ferran before it went in, but UEFA credits the Navarrese goal. With the score at 5-0, Turkey tried to avoid a bigger penalty, but then Oyarzabal emerged to create a mess in front of the goal and gift Pedri the sixth goal.

While Montella was thinking about avoiding an even more historic defeat - they were handed an 8-0 defeat by England in 1984 -, the Spanish bench was thinking about rewarding Jorge De Frutos with a debut, Rodri with playing time and Morata with stepping foot on a Turkish pitch again with the captain's armband with Spain, although this time he gave it to the Ballon d'Or winner. "It's his decision. I'm proud of who he is, a gentleman and a mentor to the rest of his teammates," were the words with which De la Fuente specified his new role in a national team that has been overwhelming in this first window.