Leeds United’s Mateo Joseph was called up by Spain U21 for the first time for this month’s international break and made his debut for La Rojita in their friendly defeat to Slovakia last week.
On Tuesday, the forward came off the bench and scored the winner against Belgium in the UEFA U21 European championship qualifiers.
After the tie, the Leeds player spoke to reporters in the mixed zone, and journalist Nacho Sanchis took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to relay his comments.
The 20-year-old had previously represented England U20 and has decided to change his allegiance to Spain.
On his decision to represent Spain U21, he said: “I was the first to convey everything to the English federation, that I wanted to play with Spain. And later I spoke with the Spanish federation and then the call came from Santi Denia.”
Sanchis explains that this indicates the Leeds man ‘offered himself’ to Spain even before receiving a call-up from Santi Denia.
AS state Joseph’s winner against Belgium has allowed La Rojita to sit on top of the table after six matches in the qualifiers.
They further explain that Santi Denia’s decision to bet on the Whites attacker ‘bears its first fruit’.
Leeds manager Daniel Farke has used Joseph as a substitute in the Championship this season and the youngster will be hoping to enjoy more minutes in the league in the coming weeks.
