It’s been quite a memorable few weeks in the life of Liverpool winger Victor Munoz, and the high point might only be a handful of days away.
Having been called up to the Spain squad for the World Cup despite only making his debut in March, the 23-year-old also joined the Reds from Osasuna, and in four days’ time he could be a world champion.
La Roja are one win away from being simultaneous European and world champions after they defeated France 2-0 on Tuesday night, with goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro securing their place in Sunday’s final.
If Spain are victorious against Argentina or England next weekend and Munoz gets on the pitch, he’ll become just the third man to play in a World Cup final for the eventual champions, matching the feat of Roger Hunt (England in 1966) and Fernando Torres (Spain in 2010).
Other Reds players have been part of world champion squads (such as Pepe Reina 16 years ago), but didn’t feature in the decider.
This’ll also be the fourth final out of the last five in which the Reds have had a player involved in the final. Following on from the aforementioned Spaniards (and Netherlands’ Dirk Kuyt) in 2010 were Dejan Lovren with Croatia eight years later and Ibrahima Konate with France in 2022, with the latter two having to settle for silver medals.
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Munoz could be joined by new Liverpool teammate Alexis Mac Allister in the World Cup decider on Sunday if Argentina beat England tonight, but if the winger is to emulate Hunt and Torres, he’ll need to do something he hasn’t yet managed – play in this tournament.
The 23-year-old hasn’t gotten on the pitch for Spain in their run to the final, having been curtailed by a muscle injury during the group stage and not called upon by Luis de la Fuente throughout the knockout rounds either.
He’d probably have been more likely to feature had La Roja lost their semi-final and gone into the third place play-off, in which coaches often rotate their starting XIs substantially to hand minutes to players who’ve had little or no involvement in the tournament up to then.
However, it’s not implausible that Munoz could be called upon as a substitute in the final on Sunday, thus getting his chance to write his name into Spanish football folklore if he were to score the decisive goal.
He could potentially become just the third active Liverpool player to feature in a World Cup final-winning team before he even makes his debut for the Reds – what a claim to fame that would be!
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