ROMANIA 1 SPAIN 2 | EURO 2020 GROUP F QUALIFIER RESULT

SPAIN defeated ROMANIA 1 - 2 away tonight in their Group F EURO 2020 Qualifier. It's the first time the History of the Spanish Football National Team that they have defeated Romania in their home stadium. A competitive match that saw Spain dominate the first half & complicate their advantage in the second half with a RED CARD included that left Spain down to 10 men.

However, the victory consolidates Spain on top of the Group F table & has them firmly on the path to secure their Euro 2020 qualification.

The above is the Spain starting XI team, the surprises being Navas (ahead of Carvajal), Saul (ahead of Parejo) & Alcacer (ahead of Morata).

The first half was totally dominated by Spain. The best player on the field was Romanian goalkeeper Tatarusano who made 4 - 5 point blank saves to avoid a scandalous Spain runway result. The Romanian was truly outstanding & frustrating for the Spanish players.

The goals for Spain came in the first 50 mt. through a penalty scored by SERGIO RAMOS & PACO ALCACER at the beginning of the second half.

But credit to Romania which did not drop their heads & lifted in their pressure looking to pull the result back. Romanian Coach Cosmin Costa began moving the bench bring on ANDONE who reacted & headed the Romanian goal in the 59th min. From here Romania put Spain onto the back foot with pressure & more aggression.

Spain suffered a RED CARD when Spanish defender LLORENTE fouled being the last man in the 79th min & left Spain with 10 men. This forced Spain to change strategy & defend their 1 goal lead which allowed Romania to be the main protagonist.

Spanish goalie KEPA had to make important match saving interventions as Spain suffered to keep their lead. However their experience, with some luck, allowed Spain to hold on, take the 3 points & the victory. 

GOALSCORERS:

0 - 1 (29') (P.) Sergio Ramos
0 - 2 (47')  Paco Alcacer
1 - 2 (59')  Florin Andone

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SPAIN 3 SWEDEN 0 | EURO 2020 QUALIFIER RESULT

SPAIN hosted SWEDEN tonight at the "Santiago Bernabeu Stadium" (Madrid) for their Group F EURO 2020 Qualifying match. Here is a brief summary of events, goalscorers & the final score.

The Spain starting 11 team had some surprises with goalkeeper KEPA starting over David De Gea, and FABIAN starting as well. Later in the 2º half Real Sociedad forward OYARZABAL would get a run & debut for Spain. 

Above is the Sweden starting 11 with an outfit throughout for their direct Football style.

Spain starting well & confident putting forward their touch & passing Football style. It was not long into the match that Spain was creating goal opportunities. However, bad luck for Sweden early as upfront man Claesson fell badly & had to be replaced. This caused a tactical change which strengthened the Swedish defence & they began to lock down their area. 

It became increasingly difficult to penetrate the Swedish defence as Spain kept smashing into their wall. The first half finished with a sense of desperation on the Spanish side.

However, the second half saw a more determined Spain passing the ball around patiently looking for the Swedish error which was to come. After long patient passing & incursiones into the Swede area, the break came in the 64th min when a hand ball was rewarded with a penalty. Spanish Captain SERGIO RAMOS who achieved a "World Record" tonight of 122 International victory games & results, took the penalty & scored in the 64th min. 

Sweden opened up a bit more to attempt to go up forward but a brilliant move by substitute forward ALVARO MORATA who lost his defensive marker was fouled in the area & awarded a penalty. He took it & scored Spain's second goal in the 85th min. 

Two minutes later with Sweden acknowledging their loss, with another substitute OYARZABAL scored the third in the 87th min.

FINAL RESULT: SPAIN 3 - SWEDEN 0
Goal Scorers:
1 - 0 (64') (P.)
Sergio Ramos
2 - 0 (85') (P.)
Alvaro Morata
3 - 0 (87')
Mikel Oyarzabal

Spain achieves its 4th straight Group F victory & secures the top spot with a 5 point difference with the second placed nation. Sweden is considered the "main competitor" of the Group & a victory tonight was the prime objective to keep Spain's EURO 2020 qualification on course.

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MALTA 0 SPAIN 2 | EURO 2020 GROUP F QUALIFIER

Tonight EURO 2020 qualifiers with a GROUP F match schedule between MALTA & SPAIN. Here is a brief summary of the main events, the goalscorers & the final result.

MALTA vs SPAIN

Spanish National Team Coach Luis Enrique had to fly back to Spain for a family emergency & his role was taken tonight by his second in charge ROBERTO MORENO. His choice of the starting 11 (above image) had 8 changes from the match against Norway last Saturday: Kepa, S Roberto, Hermoso, Gaya, Rodri, Saul, Canales & Bernat were the new names.

The first half was very clear, Malta was to defend putting up to 9 - 10 men in their area, while Spain had complete ball domination. Under this scenario good Football is very difficult to create & in fact the game was fairly boring. Spain attacked & bounced off the Maltese wall until the 31st min when ALVARO MORATA got onto a pass which he managed to slip past the goalkeeper Bonello for Malta & register Spain´s opening goal. That was basically it for the half. 

The 2ond half was more of the same. Spain dominating & Malta defending. A substitution which shaked things for Spain was the coming on of Jesus Navas who was dangerous along the right flank. From his pass came the second goal from Spain when ALVARO MORATA managed to header home his second for the night in the 73rd min.
Three more points for Spain which currently leads Group F unbeaten in two matches with 6 points. 

FINAL RESULT: MALTA 0 - SPAIN 2 

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SPAIN U-17 TEAM FIFA WORLD CHAMPIONS

Spanish & Female Football made history after SPAIN defeated Mexico 2 - 1 in the Final of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Final. Spain finally win the World Championship after losing 2- 0 to Japan in the 2014 Final in Costa Rica.

Both goals came from Claudia Pina - 16th & 26th min - & she was also proclaimed player of the tournament.

Congratulations!

Details of the Final:

SPAIN 2: Catalina Coll; Jana Fernandez, Ana Tejada, Maria Mendez, Nerea Nevado; Eva Alonso, Irene Lopez (m. 76 Leire Pena), Paola Hernandez (m. 89 Paula Arana); Eva Navarro, Claudia Pina & Salma Paralluelo (m. 66 Aixa Salvador). Coach: Maria Antonia 'Toña' Is. 

Mexico 1: Jaidy Gutierrez; Reyna Reyes, Tanna Sánchez, Ximena Ríos, Nicole Soto; Nicole Pérez, Silvana Flores, Anette Vázquez (m. 46 Nayeli Díaz); Natalia Mauleón,  Denis Castro (m. 67 Aylin Avilez) y Alison González (m. 77 Fatima Arellano). Entrenadora: Mónica Vergara. 

Goals: 1-0, m. 16: Claudia Pino. 2-0, m. 26: Claudia Pino. 2-1, m. 29: Denise Castro.

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SPAIN 1 BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA 0 | INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

SPAIN hosted BOSNIA in Las Palmas (Canary Is.) for an International Friendly match tonight. Spain puts its planning horizon towards the top priority of qualifying for the EURO 20 competition after their opportunity of gaining a place in next summer's UEFA Nations League Top 4 Final disappeared when England won Croatia 2 -1 this afternoon at Wembley.

Selector & Coach Luis Enrique has commented that his objective is to reconstruct the Spanish National Football Team by introducing slowly young promising players with the Top objective being a place in the EURO 2020 tournament. 

Tonight was the start of the reconstruction process giving the habitual substitutes a run & some newcomers a chance to debut with the National Team.

The starting 11 players for Spain were:

Kepa; Jonny, Llorente, Hermoso, Gaya; Dani Ceballos, Rodri, Isco; Suso, Alvaro Morata & Marco Asensio.

The only two players repeating from the last game against Croatia was Ceballos & Isco, the last Captain tonight & played the full 90 minutes.

Spain dominated most of the match reaching 70-75% ball possession, but as their "A Team" team-mates there was a lack of effectiveness in front of goal. Asensio & Morata had their chances but it seems clear that neither are in their best form.  It was frustrating to watch how Spain reached the Bosnian goal area but failed to convert time after time.

Bosnia did created their own chances, some dangerous, but overall they did not trouble the Spanish goalkeeper, firstly Kepa & later substitute Pau Lopez, most of the encounter.

Spanish Coach Luis Enrique took the opportunity to give new players a run & a chance to debut for Spain in the 2º half. One of those players BRAIS MENDEZ managed to score the only & winning goal tonight in the 78th min. Big night for the Celta de Vigo 21 year old offensive midfielder who will remember his debut with "La Roja" all his life.

Apart from this highlight overall an average performance by Spain which disappointed somewhat in their final finishing. Coach Luis Enrique & his staff has work ahead.

FINAL RESULT: SPAIN 1 BOSNIA 0


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CROATIA 3 SPAIN 2 | UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE

SPAIN had to win tonight to access automatically into the final 4 stage of the UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE Top 4 Finals but complicated their chances, & negatively, after being defeated 3 - 2 by CROATIA in Zagreb.

Spain now has to sit & wait for the outcome of the England - Croatia clash to see if they continue on, a victory by England or Croatia with give them respectively the ticket through to the Top 4 Finals

Spain started with the following starting 11 team as the above & below photo highlights.

The Croatians in front of their home crowd were nothing like the team which Spain defeat by 6 goals in the 1ºst game. While Spain attempted to play its traditional touch ball & dominating Football, Croatia was lead by a midfield Master in the name of Modric, was rapid & very vertical. Spain was on the back foot from the kick-off & Croatia did not mind later to wait & defend. Spanish goalkeeper DE GEA made a save on the right post from a Persic shot worth a mention.

Spain slowly crawled back into action towards the last 15 mins of the 1ºst half & created some goal chances but kept smashing into the Croatian wall.

The 2º half was spectacular & hats must be taken off to both sides. Spain lifted in their play & Croatia waited for errors to occur to then counter-attack. Plus Spain in their need to score & find a victory tonight left spaces in their defence that were exploited by Croatia to score their goals.  All the goals occurred in the 2º half :

1 - 0 (54') Andrej Kramaric
1 - 1 (56') Dani Ceballos
2 - 1 (69') Tin Jedvaj
2 - 2 (78'pen.) Sergio Ramos

3 - 2 (93') Tin Jedvaj

...including a penalty to Spain that evened things. But in the last moment Croatia got the winner. 

It was end to end & see-saw as Spain attacked, hit the post (Aspas) & missed some clear goal opportunities. But Croatia with speed & very direct attack which found spaces & depth managing to comeback & score in the crucial moments. 

Lastly both goalkeepers deserve a mention, Kalinic for Croatia for his important interventions & De Gea who deviated an almost certain goal from Rebic in latter part of the 2º half.

Looked at the match globally Croatia deserved their victory & managed to win back some lost pride. Spain will be disappointed as they again fell into their own "control Football trap" (need to be more direct) & again missed some very clear opportunities. Some Spanish names could have given something more; Saul, Rodrigo, Morata (when on)... but you can't have it all every time.

FINAL RESULT : CROATIA 3 - SPAIN 2

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SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM | LIST OF 24 PLAYERS FOR CROATIA & BOSNIA

Spanish National Football Team Selector & Coach Luis Enrique has handed in his list of 24 players for the upcoming UEFA Nations League match against Croatia & the International Friendly game against Bosnia Herzegovina.

Novelties are the call up of Celta midfielder Brais Mendez, Hermoso of Espayol & Formals of Villarreal. Isco. Iñigo Martinez, Diego Llorente & Sergi Roberto return after injury, while Jordi Alba also returns after gaining support from his exceptional return to form. 

Absent are Koke (injured), Thiago (injured) & Alonso.

List of 24 players:

Goalkeepers: David De Gea (Man United), Kepa (Chelsea FC) &  Pau Lopez (Betis).

Defenders: Jordi Alba (FC Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Iñigo Martinez (Athletic Bilbao), Diego Llorente (Real Sociedad), Mario Hermoso (Espanyol), Jonny (Wolverhampton), Gaya (Valencia CF), Azpilicueta (Chelsea FC).

Midfielders: Dani Ceballos (Real Madrid), Isco (Real Madrid), Saul (Atletico de Madrid), Rodrigo H. (Atletico de Madrid), Sergi Roberto (FC Barcelona), Busquets (Barcelona), Suso (AC Milan), Fornals (Villarreal) & Brais Mendez (Celta de Vigo).

Forwards: Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Rodrigo Moreno (Valencia), Iago Aspas (Celta) & Alvaro Morata (Chelsea FC).

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WALES 1 - SPAIN 4 | INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY MATCH

The Spanish National Football Team travelled to WALES to play a Friendly International match in the city of Cardiff. This game was another opportunity for Spanish Coach Luis Enrique to test new ideas & give some players some field time before the big official UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE Group game against England in Seville next week.

The final result a 1 - 4 victory for SPAIN in a relatively comfortable match with an average performing WALES without their Captain Gareth Bale recovering from muscle strain. 

Spanish Coach Luis Enrique took the opportunity to give "new" players some field time with some notable names (Alcacer, Morata, Rodri, Azpilicueta, Albiol & Suso):

Spain starting 11 line-up:

De Gea; Azpilicueta, Sergio Ramos, Albiol, Gaya; Saul, Rodri, Ceballos; Suso, Paco Alcacer & Alvaro Morata.

All responded well with Spain dominating the first half & scoring three goals:

0 - 1 (8') Paco Alcacer
0 - 2 (19')Sergio Ramos
0 - 3 (29')Paco Alcacer

Notable defensive mistakes from Wales which was also trying new ideas out under Coach Riggs who also knew that their big match will be next week against Ireland in their UEFA Nations League group game.

For the second half Spain took the result advantage to allow more players to get a run putting on goalie Kepa (for De Gea), Koke (for Saul), Betra (for Albiol), Jony (for Azpilicueta), Aspas (for Alcacer) & Rodrigo (for Suso).

The last 45 mins was relatively comfortable for Spain which managed a fourth goal with a header from a corner from defender Batra.

0 - 4 (74') Marc Bartra
However, Wales managed to lift a level in their play & with new legs began getting goal opportunities that later lead to a reward with an earnt consolation goal from Welshman Volkes in the 89 th min. 

1 - 4 (89') Sam Vokes

In conclusion, good game from Spain (midfielder Rodri was outstanding) which not being spectacular was effective against a "lesser" team who was without their star player Garath Bale, but showed pride & courage to score at the end.

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SPAIN | LIST FOR WALES & ENGLAND GAMES

Spanish Football Team Selector & Coach Luis Enrique has handed in his list of players for the upcoming International games between Wales & England (UEFA Nations League). 

With Sergi Roberto, Isco, Carvajal, Costa & Íñigo Martínez injured, Luis Enrique has had to make adjustments & call up "new" names like Marc Bartra, Koke, Paco Alcácer & Jonny.

Here is the full list of players:

Goalkeepers: Kepa, De Gea, Pau Lopez.

Defenders: Gaya, Marcos Alonso, Albiol, Nacho, Ramos, Marc Bartra, Azpilicueta, Jonny.

Midfielders: Busquets, Rodri, Koke, Ceballos, Thiago, Saul.

Forwards: Asensio, Morata, Rodrigo, Suso, Aspas & Paco Alcacer.


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SPAIN 6 CROATIA 0 | UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE RESULT

SPAIN has defeated FIFA World Sub-Champions CROATIA 6 - 0 at home in the city of Elche. Surprising result as one would have expected a "better" performance from Croatia before the kick off their UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE Group A clash.

Spanish Selector & Coach Luis Enrique made some changes from the last game against England with the inclusion of defender GAYA, midfielder CEBALLOS & forward ASENSIO in the starting line-up. All three players proved their worth with excellent performances & Asensio getting into the goals.

Croatia started well pressuring the Spanish defenders & forcing errors. It seemed at this early stage that Croatia would give Spain a hard night & be more competitive than they actually turned out to be. The Spanish goal came in the 24th min with a SAUL header & Croatia disappeared from this point onwards in the game.

Spain took full control of the match adding 5 more goals to the scoreline, while Spanish goalkeeper DE GEA was hardly put under pressure most of the match. Spain has been criticised for their lack of goal effectivity & scoring power, but tonight they were 100% spot on. Hard to determine if Spain has improved their goal scoring capacity or that Croatia played so bad that they "allowed" Spain to score so many.  Croatia was a shadow of their World Cup performance tonight.

Here are all the goalscorers tonight:

1 - 0 (24m) Saul Ñiguez
2 - 0 (33m) Marco Asensio
3 - 0 (35m) (O.G.) Lovre Kalinic
4 - 0 (49m) Rodrigo Moreno
5 - 0 (57m) Sergio Ramos
6 - 0 (70m) Isco

As you can see another great night for Atletico de Madrid midfielder Saul who scored again. While Asensio was in the goals scoring in the 33rd min & the 35th min was virtually his as well after his long range shot hit the bar & rebounded of the Croatian goalie into the net. Even Spanish Captain & defender Sergio Ramos got his goal after heading home in the 57th min.

The only negative note is the Spanish defense that still needs work to solve concentration lapses & silly errors. Although the results may indicate elsewise when Croatia did pressure upfront (especially early on) Spain suffered defensively & with a more competitive team tonight things may have been different. 

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SPAIN FOOTBALL TEAM PLAYERS LIST FOR UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE

New Spanish Football Team  National  Selector & Coach LUIS ENRIQUE has handed in his first list of 24 players to make up the Spanish National Team Squad for the upcoming UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE competition with matches against ENGLAND & CROATIA.

As anticipated surprises with a Coach that has new ideas & a different viewpoint on how Spain should play its Football. Below is the full list with has missing up to 12 names from the squad that went to the Russia World Cup 2018 tournament. 

Retired are Pique, Iniesta & David Silvia... while notable players left out are Jordi Alba, Koke, Aspas, Pepe Reina... to mention a few. Below in the list of 24 players the newly called up ( some are new & others return) are in black: 

FULL LIST OF 24 PLAYERS:

Goalkeepers

De Gea (Manchester United)
Kepa (Chelsea FC)
Pau Lopez (Real Betis)

Defenders
Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid)
Azpilicueta (Chelsea FC)
Albiol (Napoles)
Diego Llorente (Real Sociedad)
Nacho (Real Madrid)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Iñigo Martinez (Athletic Club Bilbao)
Marcos Alonso (Chelsea CF)
Gaya (Valencia CF)

Midfielders
Sergi Busquets (FC Barcelona)
Sergi Roberto (FC Barcelona)
Rodrigo (Atletico de Madrid)
Saul (Atletico de Madrid)
Thiago (Bayern)
Dani Ceballos (Real Madrid)

Forwards
Isco (Real Madrid)
Marco Asensio (Real Madrid)
Alvaro Morata (Chelsea CF)
Diego Costa (Atletico de Madrid)
Suso (AC Milan)
Rodrigo M. (Valencia CF)

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SPAIN FOOTBALL TEAM | SOME REASONS THAT EXPLAIN THEIR ELIMINATION

Nearly 24 horas after SPAIN was eliminated by RUSSIA in the FIFA WORLD CUP 2018 the process of closer scrutiny, deeper evaluation & severe criticism has began doing the rounds locally with Sports Media at the helm. The main labour is to explain the reasons behind the Spanish Football Team extraordinary failure & vulnerability against "lesser" National Teams. Plus, added to this, the frustration of letting go of a unique opportunity given the path towards a Final seeing Spain was in a more hypothetically accesible line of match-ups. All the "bigger" names were on the other "wing" knocking themselves out. 

So what happened? What are the reasons for the Spanish National Teams debacle? Here are a few ideas that may help explain their elimination from the 2018 World Cup. 

• Sacking of Selector & Coach Julen Lopetegui:  Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales made the drastic decision to fire (sack) Julen Lopetegui 2 days before the start of the World Cup competition. The announcement by Real Madrid that Lopetegui would be their new Coach apparently surprised President Rubiales who claims he was not informed. There has been a lot written since of the whys, the "rush of blood to the head" of Rubiales, the need to enforce order or other mysterious motives. The truth is that the decision of Rubiales left without head (the thinking head) the Spanish National Team. A terrible initial decision.
  
  
• Current Coach Fernando Hierro: The man practically had no real choice, the up till then Football Director (a administrative role) was directly handed the "hot potato". Fernando Hierro had no experience, his only real Coach employment was with Second Division B Spanish Team Oviedo where he was sacked. He was also asistente to Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid for a year, but little more.
  
  Said this, Hierro did not choose the Spanish Squad nor have sufficient time to train them properly, fix & practice tactics or elaborate alternative game plays. He was "technically dead" from the start. Hierro was not able to lift the moral of the players or truly win over the "more loyal" to Lopetegui players. Its curious that Saul who voiced support for Lopetegui did not get minutes at all during the World Cup.
  
  
• Lack of ideas, alternative plans & slow to react by Fernando Hierro: As a consequence of the above reason, Hierro was more a "statue" than a real Coach. Slow to react (with substitutions) to the circumstances, no alternative ideas when things got difficult & conservative in his thinking. This last point maybe explained as not being brave enough to risk, attack more when the only objetive for survival was to score. This point was brought to "life" when Hierro decides to bring on forward Rodrigo mid extra-time against Russia when this should have been done earlier around the 65th min mark.
  
  
•  No goal: Spain has difficulty scoring goals & Diego Costa is not the answer. Spain broke a record during Russia with more than a 1000 passes, but what worth has this & ball domination if you cannot score goals.
  
  
• Goalkeeper De Gea: Unfortunately for the Manchester United goalie he was not at his best. His mistakes & lack of confidence made contagious his "fear" to the rest of the Spanish defence. A note, De Gea received 12 goal opportunities of which 11 were goals. During the penalty shoot-out with Russia not one single attempt was stopped.
  
  
• Too many defensive mistakes: The apparent two best central defenders in World Football Ramos & Pique were not at the level of the statement. Ramos was slow, Pique not fully concentrated as he made 2 penalties with childish mistakes that cost Spain the victories. Carvajal had come out of an injury & was not able to break defences with incursions & he was not 100%, & Busquets was left too alone in his defensive role. The solution was midfielder KOKE for equilibrium but here Coach Hierro inexperience made him put forward other options. Costly decision.
  
  
• Low form of the "sacred cows": If De Gea & defenders Ramos, Pique & Carvajal were out of form, others like David Silva & Andres Iniesta were not firing on all cylinders. All were slow & mentally not fresh. Perhaps others more "hungry" with less name could have shown more grit.
   
• Marco Asensio: the golden boy of Spanish Football received a "reality check". Perhaps the stage was "too big" , perhaps the pressure was overwhelming or simply the inexperience made a dent. Whatever he was disappointing.
  
  
• Lack of alternative plans: Spain has a very visible & formed way of playing Football: touch & domination of the ball Football. However, the other teams have found the anecdote; allow Spain the ball & defend with 5 - 6 defenders & await mistakes to counter-attack Spain. With this habitual scenario Spain has not a "Plan B" or a "Plan C". The options of long balls to a central forward is another option, long shots from outside the box another response, less touch & more direct Football could be the answer.
  
  Spain has no longer players like Xavi Hernandez, Xabi Alonso, Marcos Senna, David Villa, Carles Puyol etc to play & allow for effective results from the famous "Tiqui Taka".
  
  
• The bench was limited: here the only person responsable was Lopetegui who made the final list. But it was later shown that Spain had a "weak" bench of substitutes. Said this many cannot understand why Saúl did not get a chance to play at all. Perhaps his comments in favour of Lopetegui is a reason.

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SPAIN 2 MOROCCO 2 | SPAIN GROUP B LEADER IN HORRIBLE MATCH

SPAIN drew 2 - 2 with MOROCCO in their last match of Group B to qualify for the next phase of the FIFA World Cup Championship. Spain was sitting in 2º position which would have matched them up against Uruguay, but a last minute penalty to Iran in the other Group game was scored to give a 1 - 1 result to Portugal which then relegated them to the 2º position. All this dramatic events, including a last moment goal to Spain given by the "VAR", altered things in such a way that Spain will face Russia next Sunday being Group B top spot holder. 

While most observers are still digesting the last minute changes, what is unanimous is that Spain played their worst match of the World Cup. The team has serious defensive problems & their is a lack of goal power upfront. Added to this some "scared cows" are looking slow along with goalkeeper De Gea which is lacking confidence. Spain is vulnerable to counter-attacks & in goal square headers which is putting in doubt what was previously considered the best pair of Central Defenders in World Football: Pique & Ramos. 

In fact the Moroccan first goal came early in the 4th min when Boutaïb took advantage of a disastrous misunderstanding between Iniesta & Ramos. There was more defensive mistakes to come, like a near goal from a throw in that Pique shallowed, passing mistakes from midfielders give the ball to Moroccan attackers, Amrabat hitting  the bar & the header second goal from Morocco in the 80th min from En-Nesyri.

Spain was losing most of the second half & was desperate with their Football, something not habitual & certainly not confidence building at all for the team. Luckly, ISCO was on fire as he has been all three matches to create opportunities & score. His was the 18th min equalizer to calm things & redeem earlier mistakes. 

The other piece of lucky was the 90th min goal by substitute ASPAS who scored but was initially disallowed. While Spain faced defeat, the VAR intervened to give the Aspas goal & allow Spain to draw the encounter in the very last moment. 

Another area of hot debut is the reaction or lack of reaction by Spanish Coach Fernando Hierro to move the bench when things are going badly. The changes need to be made sooner, however Hierro seems to be "frozen" without ideas on how to redirect the situations. Here again luck has played it part & has diluted the negative impact of the lack of decision making by the Spanish Coach.

The future does not look bright at all for Spain in this tournament. The odds are more stacked at being eliminated sooner ( against Russia next Sunday) tan later. Play like they are with a horrendous defence will not get them into the World Cup Final. I hope I am totally wrong, but Spain gave more reasons for everyone to be pessimistic than optimistic at this moment. Horrible match by Spain , lucky result.

As for Morocco, great performance & grit. They played their Football optimizing efficiently their "weapons", it nearly paid off for them in a historical near victory!

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SPAIN 3 PORTUGAL 3 | WORLD CUP 2018 GROUP B

SPAIN kicked off tonight its WORLD CUP 2018 participation against PORTUGAL in Group B. The final result a 3 - 3 draw that could have gone either way. Spain after the turmoil of losing their Coach Lopetegui after being fired coinciding with his Real Madrid Coaching announcement 48 hours previously, started with nerves as expected but ended much better, with 3 goals & a good overall performance. PORTUGAL has CRISTIANO RONALDO & while he may not be as illustrative as others his efficiency & optimization when he receives or faces goal is absolutely deadly. The Real Madrid player & Portugal Captain got himself a HAT-TRICK & was the driver & the protagonist of his team tonight. 

The Spain & Portugal starting line-ups are above & Spain basically kept the habitual formula & set up coming into this World Cup . Spain puts their Football in ball possession, with long build ups looking for the gaps & Diego Costa upfront, while Portugal functions on the counter-attack & long balls to Cristiano Ronaldo. Both formulas worked as Ronaldo got three goals while Diego Costa scored 2 goals.

Portugal got off to a great start when Ronaldo was fouled in the square by Nacho & was awarded a penalty in the 4th min. The goal brought doubts to the Spanish Team but they managed to get back their concentration to find their game. DIEGO COSTA draw in the 23rd min & things looked good for Spain. They had Portugal on the back foot creating opportunities until Ronaldo in the 44th min shot at goal a weak ball that Spanish goalie DAVID DE GEA fumbled to find the net. A shocker just before half time that hurt psychologically Spain. 

Spain started the 2º half again with doubts & nerves but managed to find their touch Football & regained their confidence. From a set piece free kick Busquets headed into the square where DIEGO COSTA knocked in the equalizer.  This lifted Spain & gave them a moral boost to find their BEST moments of the match. They were rewarded when defender NACHO hooked onto a loose ball outside the box in the 58th min that flew into goal. Spain was clearly dominating & could have scored a 4th but Costa could get in on time.

With Spain dominating proceedings a Pique foul on Ronaldo just outside the area allowed the Real Madrid player to convert a free kick in a unstoppable goal & equalizer in the 88th min. The free kick was spectacular & Spain watched how a "simple" foul poured cold water over their very good performance overall. 

In resume, given the circumstances both teams will be satisfied with the result, while Spain will be extra satisfied given the context, the crisis & turmoil experienced 48 hours before this match. Outstanding match from Isco, Koke & Diego Costa for Spain.

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SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM | FINAL LIST OF 23 PLAYERS FOR WORLD CUP 2018

Spanish National Team Coach & Selector Julen Lopetegui has announced this afternoon the definitive & final list of the 23 players that will make up the Spain Football Team-Squad for the upcoming World Cup Russia 2018.

The "novelties" are the call up of defenders Nacho Monreal of Arsenal & Odriozola of Real Sociedad, over Marcos Alonso, Sergi Roberto & Alvaro Morata. The absence of Alvaro Morata is perhaps the most talked about as the Chelsea FC player has been an integrate part of the Spanish Football Team in the classification stage. However, the lack of playing time at Chelsea FC may have influenced in the final decision swaying towards more "in form" forwards.

Below is the full list of names & from here wish the Spanish Football Team all the luck in the upcoming World Cup Finals.  

FINAL LIST OF 23 PLAYERS:

Goalkeepers:

De Gea (Manchester United)

Kepa (Athletic Bilbao)

Reina (Nápoles)

Defenders:

Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid)

Odriozola (Real Sociedad)

Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

Nacho (Real Madrid)

Gerard Pique (FC Barcelona)

Azpilicueta (Chelsea FC)

Nacho Monreal (Arsenal)

Jordi Alba (FC Barcelona)


Midfielders:

Isco (Real Madrid)

Asensio (Real Madrid)

Lucas Vazquez (Real Madrid)

Sergi Busquets (FC Barcelona)

Iniesta (FC Barcelona)

Koke (Atletico de Madrid)

Saul (Atletico de Madrid)

Thiago (Bayern Munich)

Silva (Manchester City)

Forwards:

Diego Costa (Atletico de Madrid)

Rodrigo (Valencia CF)

Iago Aspas (Celta de Vigo)
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SPAIN DRAWS 1 - 1 with GERMANY | INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

SPAIN travelled to Düsseldorf to play the current World Champions GERMANY for an International Friendly game. The final result a 1 - 1 draw in an entertaining match with plenty of opportunities created by both sides.

Excellent sparring game between two favourites coming into the soon to be celebrated FIFA WORLD CUP competition in Russia. Spain started strong in the 1ºst half while Germany slowly recovered their game & went better as the match continued. Both sides like to keep dominion of the ball & the match had possession 50-50.

SPAIN went ahead first when Iniesta created & made a surgical pass that found Valencia CF forward RODRIGO in the 6th min of the encounter to score a goal. Spain created more opportunities thereafter but both the German defenders & Goalkeeper Ter Stegen held out. It was in the 35th min when MULLER got onto a ball outside the square that he rammed home for the equalizer.

The 2ºnd half saw a much better German team controlling the game & making Spain´s goalie De Gea work hard with a couple of very important saves. Spain gave a run to fresh legs - Saúl, Nacho, Asensio, Diego Costa & debutan Rodri - & began creating opportunities some very clear like a Diego Costa occasion in front of goal that was stopped at the last moment by a German defender. 

End result a justified draw result for both teams who put in a nice game.

Spain will play their next International Friendly next Tuesday in Madrid against Argentina. Another excellent sparring match to examine players & squad progression. 

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SPAIN 5 - COSTA RICA 0 | INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

SPAIN played COSTA RICA tonight in a Friendly International in the Spanish city of Malaga. The final result was 5 - 0 victory for the local side. Total domination by Spain which experienced just a couple of chances to the visitors which failed to convert their limited goal opportunities. 

The starting 11 team for Spain was:

In the second half Spanish players Batra, Nacho, Asensio, Aspas, Saul & Luis Alberto got a run. Good warm up match for Spain as they begin planning for next years World Cup finals in Russia.

The names to highlight was DAVID SILVIA who put in a blinder with two goals & ISCO who was magical until taken off mid second half after a hard tackle from WASTON. The Real Madrid player will undergo medical checks but it looks like a knock at this stage & may be able to play next weekend clash against Atletico de Madrid.

The goalscorers tonight were:

• Jordi Alba 6th min , 1 - 0
• Alvaro Morata 22nd min, 2 - 0
• David Silva 51 st min, 3 -0
• David Silva 55th min, 4 - 0
• Andres Iniesta 73rd min, 5 - 0

Spain will continue with their International preparation games next Tuesday when they travel to St Petersburg to play Russia.

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WORLD CUP 2018 | SPANISH FOOTBALL SQUAD FOR ALBANIA & ISREAL

Spanish National Football Coach & Selector Julen Lopetegui has handed in today his list of players that will make up the Spanish Football National squad for the upcoming World Cup 2018 Group qualifiers.

The important games are:

6th of October (Alicante, Spain) vs Albania
9th of October (Jerusalem, Isreal ) vs Isreal 

Spain looks for victories to mathematically secure the Group top spot & go directly into the World Cup 2018 draw for Russia.

The novelties in today´s list are Rodrigo (Valencia), Callejon (Napoles) & Illaramendi (Real Sociedad). The following players have been dropped from previous list:  Suso, Vitolo, Deulofeu, & David Villa:

Full list of players:

Goalkeepers: David De Gea, Reina & Kepa 

Defenders: Jordi Alba, Azpilicueta, Bartra, Carvajal, Nacho, Monreal, Gerard Pique & Sergio Ramos 

Midfielders: Isco, Thiago, Busquets, Illarramendi, Silva, Iniesta, Saul, Koke, Asensio,

Forwards: Iago Aspas, Callejon, Rodrigo, Pedro & Alvaro Morata.

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SPAIN DEFEATS LIECHTENSTEIN 0 - 8 | WORLD CUP 2018 QUALIFIER

Spain defeated 0 - 8 Liechtenstein away in their World Cup 2018 Group qualifier to take another positive step forward towards qualification. The main objective is to remain top of the Group which gives the direct ticket to Russia 2018. Spain has two more matches against Albania & Israel next month that in theory should be accessible.

With due respects to Liechtenstein, it was a "walk in the park" for Spain which had peaks of 80% ball possession. Complete domination from the start until finish with Spain comfortable enough to play with just 3 defenders which spent more time in the forward line. In fact Sergio Ramos opened the scoreline in the 2º minute which said it all.

The goal scorers:

• Sergio Ramos 2nd min, 0 - 1
• Morata 14th min, 0 - 2
• Isco 15th min , 0 - 3
• David Silva (free-kick) 38th min , 0 - 4
• Aspas 50th min, 0 - 5
• Morata 53rd min , 0 - 6 
• Aspas 62nd min , 0 - 7 
• Goppel (own goal) 88th min, 0 - 8

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MACEDONIA 1 SPAIN 2 | WORLD CUP 2018 QUALIFIERS

Spain defeated 2 - 1 Macedonia away from home tonight in their Group G World Cup 2018 qualifier. A relative controlled game for Spain which saw momentary lapses which lead to the Macedonian goal, & numerous goal opportunities for Spain which were not converted.

The Group winner goes straight into the World Cup finals in Russia, with the runner up having to play elimination games which are always risky. The two countries battling out for the top spot are Spain & Italy, & more goals tonight would have been handy as the goal average-difference in the end may decide which country gets top spot.

Spain starting 11 team:
De Gea, Carvajal, Pique, Ramos, Jordi Alba; Busquets, Isco, Iniesta, Thiago, Silva & Diego Costa.

The first half was all Spain with possession Football which lead to their two goals:

• Silva 15th min
• Diego Costa 27th min

The second half we watched how Spain complicated themselves with a Macedonian goal in the 66th min by Ristovski which unsettled the Spaniards. Macedonia put emphasis on counter-attacking & found two - three more goal occasions which would have been disastrous for Spain if converted by Macedonia.

In the end Spain held things together to manage the vital 3 points & set destiny up for the soon to be Spain vs Italy match which looks like being the game the settles the Group top spot.

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