The Arsenal midfielder and his international teammates – who are the current European champions – know they are one of the favourites to win the tournament and they are not feeling weighed down by pressure to perform.

He told FourFourTwo magazine: “Everyone in the Spain camp is ready to embrace it.

“Everyone that faces us does so in the knowledge we’re a top team.

“Expectation doesn’t take the energy and the focus from us.”

The 29-year-old sportsman recalled how they defied expectations to scoop their Euros title.

He said: “Actually, everyone was thinking we weren’t capable of winning the trophy.

“That was a good thing at the time – it took a lot of pressure off us.”

Merino came in off the bench in the quarter-finals to head home the winning goal at the end of extra time, and he admitted that was the “best moment” of his career to date.

He said: “It was the best moment of my career.

“It was a very tough game against probably the favourites at that stage, playing at home in Stuttgart with their massive support.

“Before that, Spain had never beaten a tournament host nation. To be able to help the team in a moment like that, it was special.”