Plenty of reasons to think good times lie ahead for Spain

MADRID -- Although Spain suffered the disappointment of an exit on penalties in the semifinal of the European Championship, the side coached by Luis Enrique return to Spain with their heads held high and with hopes that the future will hold better things.

When Luis Enrique named his squad in May, it was surrounded in controversy, due mainly to his decision to leave out veteran central defender Sergio Ramos and to not pick Real Madrid players.

Preparations were interrupted by doubts over the coronavirus after Sergio Busquets tested positive for the virus and Diego Llorente returned a false positive. That meant the Under-21 side played their last preparation game against Lithuania, winning 4-0 and showing their depth of young talents in the country.

Spain's first two group matches also raised questions as they dominated the ball, but failed to score against Sweden, before being held 1-1 by Poland. A 5-0 win over Slovenia uncorked the bottle and Spain defeated Croatia in extra time to move into the last eight, where they squeezed past Switzerland on penalties.

Tuesday's defeat came after arguably Spain's best performance of the tournament and they had Italy on the ropes for much of the first 90 minutes as their pressure and swift passing gave the Italians a constant stream of problems.

The game against Slovenia was the only time Spain actually won a match in 90 minutes and Croatia's late fightback from 3-1 down to 3-3 to force extra time shows there is still work to be done, both in correcting defensive lapses and also in converting possession and chances into goals.

However, the mood around the team has changed with few now questioning the coach and with a host of youngsters pointing the way to the future. Barcelona midfielder Pedri was probably Spain's best player of the tournament, completing 98 percent of his passes against Italy, as well as tracking back and winning tackles. At just 18 years old, he has an incredible future ahead of him.

Eric Garcia, who should play on a regular basis on his return to FC Barcelona, has shown his is a classy central defender able to play the ball out from the back, while Aymeric Laporte's powerful displays at the back ended any controversy over the Frenchman's call up.

Although he was played out of position at right back, Marcos Llorente will add drive and aggression to the side, while Dani Olmo and Pablo Sarabia mixed hard work and ability on the flanks and Ferran Torres gave glimpses of his precious talent.

Meanwhile Unai Simon recovered from a dreadful error which gifted a goal to Croatia to produce a string of vital saves and he was the hero in the penalty shootout win over the Swiss, as well as saving Italy's first spot kick on Tuesday. The Athletic Club Bilbao keeper may need to improve his concentration, but aged just 24, it looks as if he will be Spain's keeper for many years.

With a strong start to Spain's World Cup qualifying campaign already in the bag, Luis Enrique can be expected to look to members of the U-21 side in the coming months, with Brahim Diaz, Oscar Mingueza and Martin Zubimendi all with a chance of a call up sooner than later, while the return of Dani Carvajal from injury will give more options at right back.

In conclusion, although the Spanish will be disappointed today, there are plenty of reasons to think a bright future lies ahead.