New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) Spain breezed past Turkiye with a 6-0 win in their FIFA World Cup Qualifier, with Mikel Merino scoring a superb hat-trick to help Spain defeat Turkey in their World Cup qualifier in Konya. The 29-year-old labelled the occasion on which he scored his first international hat-trick as a ‘magical night’.

The Arsenal midfielder netted his first of the night on the 22-minute mark before finishing a fine team move just before half-time to double his personal tally. Mikel rounded off his hat-trick in superb fashion, curling home from range to make it 5-0 on the night. Ferran Torres and Pedri scored the other goals in the 6-0 victory for La Roja.

Merino believes Spain did enter the contest as favourites but did not expect the margin to be as large as it was.

“Well, obviously when you face an opponent like Turkey, you know it’s going to be a tough game. We knew we were coming here to a very tough atmosphere with great fans that are always supporting them, but at the same time, we are confident that we are going to win every game.

“We didn’t expect to win with six goals, but obviously we did an amazing game. We played very well from the beginning, respecting the opponent, giving our all and we were lucky enough to score a couple of goals,” said Merino.

When asked to reflect on his hat-trick, Merino said, “It’s amazing; obviously I’m really, really happy. This is my first hat-trick. I am not used to scoring so many goals, so scoring three with my national team on a night like this, against a team like this, is magical, and I think it’s a night I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

The result leaves Spain top of Group E on six points, with Merino having scored four of his nation’s nine goals in the group so far.

–IANS

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