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Title holders Spain are desperate to win in Luxembourg tomorrow after surprisingly crashing 2-1 at Slovakia in Euro 2016 qualifying. |
When the draw for the Euros was made, reigning champions Spain seemed to have an easy road to the finals in France. However, Thursday’s defeat has however shown that it could turn out to be a difficult path in Group C.
Vicente del Bosque’s troubled team are joint second in the group with Ukraine with three points each. Slovakia are top with a maximum six from two games.
Worryingly, it was La Roja’s fourth defeat in six games, the others being against the Netherlands and Chile in the group stage exit as defending champions at the World Cup, and in an August friendly against France.
“The team is getting used to losing, like a poor boxer gets used to hitting the canvas,” commented AS.
Spain lost a qualifier for the first time since 2006, and confirmed suspicion that the glory days with Euro titles 2008 and 2012, and the World Cup success in 2010, are over.
“A Ridiculous Display” was the headline in Sport, while El Pais said “Spain Go From Bad to Worse.”
Two men were singled out for special criticism: veteran keeper Iker Casillas - who was to blame for Slovakia’s first goal - and striker Diego Costa, who has still to score after six appearances for La Roja.
Neither player would speak after the defeat. Instead, veteran Andres Iniesta said “Let’s hope everything is different in the next match.
“We didn’t deserve to lose tonight. I think we did enough to win, with all the chances we created ... Now we must get back on track by winning on Sunday. There is still a long way to go.”
Iniesta added that he was “not worried at all” by Costa’s poor form for his adopted country, and denied that the Chelsea striker was struggling to adapt to the team’s “tiki-taka” short passing game.
However, Del Bosque is now considering dropping Costa against Luxembourg, in order to make room for the tandem of young Valencia strikers Paco Alcacer and Rodrigo.
It was Alcacer who scored Spain’s lone goal, after coming off the subs’ bench. He has scored twice in three appearances, and is in excellent form for Valencia - the same as Rodrigo.
“I am trying to take advantage of the chances I am been given,” said Alcacer. “There are still many games left in this group. We have to learn from the mistakes that we committed tonight.”
Another youngster likely to come in for the Luxembourg date is Real Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal, for Atletico’s Juanfran, while the uncapped Bayern Munich player Juan Bernat might come in for left-back Jordi Alba.