BELARUS 0 - SPAIN 1 | EURO 2016 GROUP MATCH RESULT

Spain visited Belarus in their Euro 2016 qualifier in a must win situation, as they needed to secure the 2º place of the Group & have a chance of grabbing the 1º spot off Slovakia in the all important September Group game between both. 

The objective was achieved with a worked 0 - 1 victory over Belarus that had its moments of "danger" for Spain especially in the 2º half. Spain suffers a long term chronic problem upfront, lack of goal & effective Football to shut their matches. Said differently, plenty of ball domination - up to 65-68% - plenty of goal chances but ineffective in terms of conversions. 

Spain started with the following 11 players:

Casillas; Juanfran, Pique, Ramos, Jordi Alba; Busquets, Cazorla, Cesc; Silva, Pedro & Morata.

Belarus conscious of their resources adopted to defend & attempt the counter-attack if Spain made mistakes. The first half was all Spain with plenty of opportunities to score but could not finish things off. The opener finally came in the 45th min from a free kick that the Belarus goalie could not reach & found David Silva who controlled & fired home.

The second half saw Belarus lift their game & take more risks looking for the equalizer. The home side created more chances & Spanish keeper Iker Casillas had to make two-three important saves to avoid Belarus equalizing the game. Spain looked out of place up till the 70th min when Coach Del Bosque made chances (in Vitolo, Isco...) to give new ideas upfront & fresh legs. Spain regained control & again created chances, with Morata & Silva having notable clear opportunities, but again not able to finish things off. Right up till the end of the game there were more Spanish chances but the Belarus defence & goalie stopped everything.

In the end the 0 - 1 was enough to give Spain the win & the valuable 3 points, but with a sour taste that goalscoring is a ongoing problem.

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SPAIN FOOTBALL TEAM LIST | BELARUS & COSTA RICA

Spanish National Football Team Selector & Coach Vicente del Bosque announced today the list of 24 players for the upcoming International Friendly match against Costa Rica (Leon, 11th of June) & the all important Euro 2016 Group qualifier against Belarus (Borisov 14th of June. 

The principal novelties are the names of two Sevilla FC players, goalkeeper Sergio Rico & midfielder Aleix Vidal.

Complicated calendar as some important players will be on holidays (or CL Final duties) & will have to fly back to group up & prepare the matches. Lets hope this does not affect the Spanish Team performance especially against Belarus.

Full list of 24 names:

Goalkeepers: Casillas (Real Madrid) De Gea (Manchester United) Sergio Rico (Sevilla)

Defenders: Juanfran (Atlético) Carvajal (Real Madrid) Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) Pique (Barcelona) Bartra (Barcelona) Jordi Alba (Barcelona) Bernat (Bayern) San Jose (Athletic)

Midfielders: Koke (Atlético) Busquets (Barcelona) Silva (Manchester City) Isco (Real Madrid) Cazorla (Arsenal)
Fabregas (Chelsea) Iniesta (Barcelona) Pedro (Barcelona) Vitolo (Sevilla) Aleix Vidal (Sevilla)

Forwards: Alcacer (Valencia) Morata (Juventus) Nolito (Celta).

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SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM LIST OF PLAYERS FOR BELARUS & GERMANY

Spanish Football National Team Selector & Coach Vicente Del Bosque has handed in his list of players for the upcoming Euro 2016 Group match against Belarus (15 th of November) & Friendly International against current World Champions Germany (18th of November).

Novelties are the call up if Isco (back again), Camacho, Callejon, Nolito & Morata. The last - Morata from Juventus - is a surprise. The "theory" that Del Bosque may have a "thing" against Fernando Llorente - team-mate of Morata - gains strenght, although unproven. Malaga midfieder Camacho is another surprise, as Mario Suarez from At. Madrid is also in high form, while the call up of Napoli player Callejon is correct from all Football observers perspective. 

Left out are Iturrespe & Rodrigo, while  Diego Costa & Carvajal have injury.

The full list of players:

Goalkeepers
Casillas (Real Madrid)
De Gea (Manchester United)
Casilla (Espanyol)

Defenders
Juanfran (Atletico de Madrid)
Ramos (Real Madrid)
Bartra (FC Barcelona)
Bernat (Bayern Munich)
Jordi Alba (FC Barcelona)
Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Albiol (Napoles)
Pique (FC Barcelona)

Midfielders
Callejon (Napoles)
Busquets (FC Barcelona)
Isco (Real Madrid)
Pedro (FC Barcelona)
Cesc (Chelsea)
Cazorla (Arsenal)
Camacho (Málaga)
Koke (Atletico d Madrid)
Raul García (Atletico de Madrid)

Forwards
Morata (Juventus)
Alcacer (Valencia)
Nolito (Celta)

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SPAIN 2 BELARUS 1 | WORLD CUP 2014 GROUP I QUALIFIER GAME RESULT

The Spanish Football National Team took a mayor step forward to qualifying themselves for the upcoming FIFA 2014 World Cup after defeating 2 - 1 at home Belarus in their Group I match. A game that made Spain work hard to find their goals & the three points.

The news was the inclusion from the start of Victor Valdes as goalkeeper & the debut of Swansea forward Michu. Both played in line with the match, Valdes had relatively little work to do - expect at the end - & Michu could not shine "trapped" in the defensive Belarus wall. 

Most teams have basically figured out a way to play against Spain, that is put 10 men in defence & wait for a Spanish mistake to counter-attack. This gives the ball on a platter to Spain which dominates with possession but they bounce off the rival wall. The Spanish frustration was such that Spanish Coach Del Bosque resorted after half time to just 3 defenders pushing an extra man up front ( took off defender Monreal for Iniesta ) in the style of FC Barcelona ex-Coach Guardiola.  

It took 60 mins to open up the Belarus can & that came after a ball fumbled in the goal square to  have Xavi Hernandez smash it into the net.  This calmed the nerves of the Spanish Team & the second came in the 77th min when Alvaro Negredo ( on for Michu ) headed a Sergio Ramos pass.

Spanish Coach Del Bosque them changed the midfield to give Koke a run & in the "settling period" Belarus took advantage of a field mistake to score their only goal from Kornilenko in the 88th min. A last minute game "scare" for Spain.

Important win for Spain that gives them half a ticket for Brazil that can be totally secured as mathematical Top of the Group team by beating Georgia next Tuesday.

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SPAIN 1 BELARUS 1 | U-21 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

The SPANISH U-21 FOOTBALL TEAM played a friendly match against BELARUS in Madrid with the final result a 1 - 1 draw. Spain used this match to fine-tune themselves for the upcoming U-21 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS in Denmark next June where team also play for a place in the upcoming London Olympic Games.

Spanish U-21 International Bojan 

The Spanish team started with the following 11:

De Gea; Montoya, San José, Domínguez, Vila; Parejo, Fontás, Ander Herrera, Capel; Adrián & Bojan.


The Spaniards dominanted from start to finish the game but were not able to break through the tough & tactically positioned  Belarus side & their defensive wall. It was Spanish player & Getafe midfielder PAREJO who managed to score in the 67th min, to see REKISH equalize for Belarus in the 75th min.

Spanish Coach Milla gave everyone a run & the match finished with Spain having a good sparring partner to test things & see what they need to better if they are to do well in the Euro Championship & get a London Olympic Euro place.

The only bad news was the ankle injury that young FC Barcelona player Bojan received that may keep him side-lined a few weeks. At first sight it did nt look bad but needs to have the doctors have a look at his ankle.

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