Manchester United defender Ona Batlle will be made to wait for her seventh senior cap for Spain with their UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 qualifier against Poland having been postponed.
Spain need to simply avoid defeat against current group runners-up Poland to secure their place in the tournament finals, however, they must wait until February 2021 to have that opportunity to do so with the meeting officially called off by UEFA last night.
Poland approached UEFA late last week to request the postponement of the match with several members of their squad having tested positive for COVID-19. With both player safety and EURO qualification at stake, it always looked like UEFA would accept the request to cancel the fixture. The Spanish Football Association went on to confirm the postponement via their official Twitter account last night.
🚨 OFICIAL | UEFA confirma la suspensión del encuentro entre España y Polonia. El choque se jugará en febrero de 2021#JugarLucharYGanar pic.twitter.com/Nu9ssQouOR
— Selección Española Femenina de Fútbol (@SeFutbolFem) November 29, 2020
Manchester United full-back Batlle was a member of a Spain side who thrashed group minnows Moldova 10-0 at the Pabellon de la Ciudad del Futbol 1 in Madrid on Friday night. The youngster played the first half of the match before being replaced by Leila Ouahabi. It was the sixth appearance for Batlle at senior level, 18 months on from the player’s debut against Cameroon in an international friendly.
The postponement of Spain’s fixture against Poland means that Batlle will now return to Manchester United as she looks to prepare for Saturday’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture at Aston Villa.