Despite his excellent year with New York City FC and public statements that he has not in fact retired from the international game, David Villa did not make the roster for Spain’s upcoming matches against Macedonia and England.
Villa was not called by Spain manager Julen Lopetegui for a World Cup qualifier against Macedonia next Saturday and a friendly at England on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Lopetegui named six forwards to his roster: Alvaro Morata, Diego Costa, Nolito, Vitolo, Jose Callejon and 35-year-old Aritz Aduriz.
“We have no problem bringing in older players,” Lopetegui said. “In the case of David Villa, he is playing in another league and is at a good level. He is being competitive and scoring but we’ve understood the strikers we had to bring in were those we have. We are happy with the squad that we have and it’s been chosen to help us try to claim victory in both games.”
Lopetegui took in an NYCFC match at Yankee Stadium earlier this year to see Villa, who is the all-time leading scorer in the history of his country and has recently said that he’d like to return to the team. Villa hasn’t been called up by Spain since the 2014 World Cup.
One of three finalists for the 2016 Landon Donovan MLS MVP award, Villa has been excellent for New York City FC this year, finishing second in the league with 23 goals in 33 regular season appearances.
The 34-year-old and his NYCFC teammates have their backs against the wall heading into the second leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against Toronto FC at Yankee Stadium on Sunday (6:30 pm ET; FS1, FOX Deportes in the US, TSN4/5 in Canada), needing to overcome a 2-0 first leg deficit to advance to the Eastern Conference Championship.
