Luis de la Fuente heaped praise on Spain match-winner Mikel Merino after his double off the bench booked La Roja's spot in the quarter-finals of the Nations League. 

Spain came from behind to beat 10-man Croatia 2-1 on Tuesday at Stadion Poljud, ensuring they made it four wins from four to begin their Group A3 campaign. 

Ivan Perisic gave Croatia a deserved 13th-minute lead, with the hosts almost doubling their tally soon after, but Unai Simon atoned for an earlier error to deny Igor Matanovic. 

De la Fuente turned to his bench at the break and brought on Merino for Alex Baena, and the Arsenal midfielder hauled Spain level with a fine finish just after the hour. 

Croatia then had goalscorer Perisic sent off in the 79th minute for a second bookable offence, after a foul on Marc Cucurella, and Spain made their man advantage count two minutes from time when Merino thumped home the winner with his left foot. 

Merino has established a reputation as being a key player off the bench for Spain, and he has now scored six goals in 16 substitute appearances for La Roja since the start of 2025.

No player has netted more as a substitute for a European national team in that time, while under De la Fuente, he has scored seven times off the bench, more than any other Spain player during his tenure. 

"It's an honour to coach a player like that," De la Fuente said of Merino. "In another country he would be more valued.

"I hope more will be done. Merino is one of the best in the world in his position.

"He has the class to play in any team and can always play, obviously. He knows how to understand these moments of the match.

"He has that gift that is the sense of the goal, for important goals, too."

The result extended Spain's unbeaten run to 43 matches in all competitions (W33 D10), though there were some concerns for De la Fuente.

Spain have now conceded at least one goal in their last four matches (five goals in total), their worst run of consecutive games without a clean sheet since June 2025 (six). 

The five goals La Roja have conceded in their last four matches is the same number as in their previous 18, while Croatia were able to edge the expected goals (xG) battle with a total of 1.17 from their 10 shots, compared to Spain's 1.08 from the same number of attempts. 

De la Fuente, however, had no doubts that his team would come back to earn the win, describing his side as "ambitious footballers" who always strive to be the best. 

"I am proud for many reasons," De la Fuente added. "But it was a game that we knew would go like that, where the opponent would have that attitude.

"We knew how to understand it. In the first half we suffered. It was hard, but in the second we wore down the opponent, we created chances and Merino appeared once again.

"We saw a team that did not give up. This was achieved by very ambitious footballers. They are insatiable. They want more and more.

"They are not satisfied with anything other than winning. If you do everything you have to do to win, you're closer to doing it.

"We are not satisfied with being world champions. There is room to improve. We have to grow as a team."