Santi Yusta, the “top scorer” of the new Spain national team led by Chus Mateu | Basketball | Sports

From Sergio Scariolo’s last Spain to Mateu’s first Chus, there is only one Crome that repeats: Santi Yusta, a 28-year-old, 2.00-metre-tall Madrid striker from Casademont Zaragoza. The team begins on Thursday (6:30 pm, Teleporti) in Copenhagen by facing Denmark in the 2027 World Cup qualifiers in Qatar before hosting Georgia in Tenerife on Sunday. Ukraine completes a group of four teams, of which the best three qualify for the second stage.

The double duel in this window also marks the debut of Chus Mathieu at the helm of a team without representatives of Euroleague teams (except for Izan Almansa, released by Real Madrid) or those competing in the United States. Twelve of the 14 were recruited into the ACB, all except Álvaro Cardenas (Peristeri, Greece) and Greit Osupor (Science City Jena, Germany). And among that local middle class, there is a striker like Yusta, the top scorer in the Asian League with an average of 18.8 points, the same Luau Caparo, from Baskonia, the most valuable player in the league (22.8), tied with Shermadini (Tenerife) who makes the most free throws (6.5 per day), second with the most minutes on the court (28), who receives the most fouls (6.3), and third in recovering the ball (1.6). All in one.

The striker told El Pais: “I am in my best sporting, playing, psychological and emotional moment. Aside from the statistics, I feel happy, more mature and focused. I know how things are going and the level in these matches.” Only Alberto Diaz (51) and Jaime Fernandez (44) have surpassed that rating in their 25 caps since his debut in 2018. In fact, Yusta knows what the movie is about. He was already decisive in the double against Slovakia that sealed last November Spain’s passport to the European Championship, especially with a steal and a hat-trick with four tenths remaining that led to extra time in Bratislava. That ease in front of the hoop rated Scariolo’s team then and today it is repeated in the service of Chus Mathieu. “I try to be a very active and energetic player, running the court in the open court… Everyone knows what I do well is get to the basket from the right side, I’ve always had that ability to score points,” Yusta says. As one of Scariolo’s assistants described it, the boy “had a purpose.”

The son of a soccer goalkeeper who came through Madrid’s youth ranks and a basketball player, Santi chose basketball and made his debut for the Real Madrid first team at the age of 17 in May 2014. At the White House, he completed two spells (2013-15 and 2017-19) coinciding with Chus Mateu, Pablo Laso’s assistant. Two seasons at Obradoiro and two more on Tenerife preceded his arrival in 2021 at Casademont Zaragoza, where he established himself and exploded as a goalscorer. At the beginning of this month, he awarded Real Madrid 30 points and is bidding to become the first Spaniard to complete the AFC League’s top-scorer cycle since Juan Carlos Navarro in 2007 and Rudy Fernandez in 2008.

The choice was a land of mixed emotions. From youth success with European U-16 and U-20 gold medals to his lowest moment, the ruptured cruciate ligament in his left knee suffered in a match against Poland in February 2020 which left him out for 10 months during the pandemic. Although he emerged renewed from that setback. “Since that injury, I see basketball in a different way. I don’t worry after games if things go wrong, I try to have a good time without stopping work. I’ve changed my chip and I’m not angry anymore. I realized that at any moment I can stop doing what I love, that something could happen to me and I won’t be able to play forever. When I came back I focused on enjoying myself. When I was younger and played little or didn’t play well, I thought about it a lot. Coming home today I would like to say to the guys: ‘Don’t give too much importance to a bad day.’ “It worked better for me that way,” he says.

The new Yusta last played at EuroBasket, an experience that saw him take a “step forward in energy and fitness”. “I’ve now tried to maintain this superior rhythm and not lose it,” he says. Chus Mateo’s New Spain believes in itself Objectives.