TORONTO – With 41 goals in 63 appearances, David Villa has been one of Major League Soccer’s top scorers since joining the league two years ago and is a legitimate candidate for MLS MVP this year.
He has also drawn the interest of new Spanish national team coach Julen Lopetegui, who scouted Villa at New York City FC’s final regular season game, a 4-1 win over Columbus Crew SC at Yankee Stadium.
Lopetegui witnessed a dominant performance by the 34-year-old forward, capped by a stunning stoppage time strike to put the finishing touches on a win that clinched second place in the Eastern Conference.
But will Lopetegui call Villa into La Furia Roja for the first time since the 2014 FIFA World Cup?
“Now, one day before the most important game, I’m not thinking about this,” Villa said after the team’s final training before facing Toronto FC in the opening leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals Sunday (7 pm ET, FS1 | TSN1/4 in Canada). “The next call is in next Friday. I hope, because for me it would be a dream to be there, but this is not the moment to speak about that.”
Villa is Spain’s all-time leading scorer, with 59 career goals in 97 matches. He was awarded the Silver Shoe for scoring five of Spain’s eight goals en route to winning the 2010 World Cup. His last international goal came in a 3-0 win over Australia on June 23, 2014.
Spain’s next qualifying match for the 2018 World Cup is Nov. 12 against Macedonia in Granada. Three days later, there’s a friendly against England in London.
Those matches would come during the international break, a week before the Eastern Conference finals.
Even though NYCFC could still be in the midst of their first-ever playoff run, head coach Patrick Vieira hopes Villa gets the call.
There are only positives in such a decision, he said.
“I knew he was at the stadium watching David and I was really pleased to know the Spanish national team was here to watch David because he’s been fantastic for us,” Vieira said. “If there’s an option for the coach to take David, I will be really happy, the club will be really happy, the MLS I think will be really happy and that will be good for MLS.”
