SPAIN ON COURSE
DESPITE TRAGEDY
S
pain, with six wins out of six, are
on course to qualify comfortably
under new boss Robert Moreno,
the former assistant to Luis
Enrique who stepped down in March
to spend time with his terminally-ill
daughter, Xana.
Moreno took charge on a permanent
basis in September after Luis Enrique
decided not to return to the role following
the death of the nine-year-old from a
rare bone cancer.
“I consider Luis a friend and this
friendship goes ahead of everything
else,” says Moreno. “If he wants to return
one day I will be delighted to step aside
and work with him.”
The victory over the Faroes in Gijon
came a few days after a key 2-1 win in
Romania. Dani Ceballos’ form on loan
at Arsenal had secured a place in the
starting line-up in Bucharest, along with
centre-back Diego Llorente, who was
sent off for taking down Romania’s
George Puscas when clear on goal.
Diego Costa was dropped by Moreno,
with Paco Alcacer preferred as first-^
choice striker and 33-year-old Jesus
Navas deployed at right-back.
Qualification will be confirmed if
Spain avoid defeat away to Norwayor Sweden in October’s matches, leaving
Sweden, Romania and Norway in a three-
way battle for second place.
The Swedes began well with wins over
Romania and Malta, followed by a crazy
3-3 draw with Norway in Oslo, when
substitute Ola Kamara scored a 97th-
minute equaliser. Norway had gone 2-0
up with 20 minutes remaining, only for
the Swedes to score twice and then grab
what looked to be a 91st-minute winner
through Robin Quaison.
There was further disappointment in
the return match in September when
Sweden faced former coach Lars
Lagerbeck, now in charge of Norway.
Midfielder Emil Forsberg’s equaliserSTAR MAN
KEPA ARRIZABALAGA
Spain
New Spain boss Robert Moreno made a
big call when replacing keeper David De
Gea as the team’s first choice.
Whereas De Gea had a poor World
Cup in Russia and has committed many
howlers between the Manchester United
posts, 24-year-old Arrizabalaga – who
became the world’s most expensive
No1 when leaving Athletic Bilbao for
Chelsea in a £71.5million deal at thesalvaged a point in a 1-1 draw, but
defender Victor Lindelof apologised for
the Swedish performance afterwards,
saying: “I was awful in this game.
Everyone should have done better. We
should be able to play through their
press. This might be the worst national-
team performance I’ve been involved in.”
Sweden called upon new attacking
faces in the form of Alexander Isak and
Quaison, who moved ahead of Marcus
Berg in the pecking order.
Romania opened with a defeat toSweden but an injury-time equaliser from
Claudiu Keseru secured a valuable 2-2
draw with Norway.
Coach Cosmin Contra has blooded a
number of promising youngsters, notably
Puscas, Razvan Maran and Ianis Hagi.
Qualification is in their hands, with home
games against Norway and Sweden
before a final game in Spain.
Norway boss Lagerbeck has also
introduced youth in the form of a recall
for former Real Madrid starlet Martin
Odegaard and a debut for Salzburg’s
free-scoring striker Erling Haland.
Odegaard scored his first international
goal in the 2-2 draw with Romania while
Haland was given a debut against Malta.EURO 2020 | Qualifiers
GROUP
F“I was awful in this game. Everyone should have
done better...this might be the worst national-team
performance I’ve been involved in”
Sweden’s Victor Lindelof after the 1-1 draw with Norway
Crazy...Norway’s
Ola Kamara (centre)
makes it 3-3 in the
game against SwedenIn control...Spain’s
Mikel Oyarzabal
(no12) takes charge
against Faroe Islands