Spain's woes continued after a dismal World Cup campaign as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Slovakia. Juraj Kucka put the hosts one up in the first half after an error from Real Madrid number one Iker Casillas. Paco Alcacer seemed to have saved the day for the reigning champions after he equalized in the 82nd minute only for Miroslav Stoch to slot home Hamsik's inch perfect pass to hand Slovakia a very important win.
Brazilian born striker Diego Costa who has been in tremendous form for his club Chelsea has so far failed to replicate his performances with the national side. The 26 year old is yet to score for Spain but his former club teammate Juanfran has insisted that Spanish fans will soon see the best of Costa.
“He’s not getting the scoring chances he’s getting with his club team,” Juanfran said.
“He’s committed and sooner or later he will start scoring goals. We need to be patient with him. On Sunday [against Luxembourg], everything will be fine.”
The Atletico Madrid man further stressed that his side did not deserve to lose but was confident that they would put up a better showing during their fixture on Sunday.
“Their goalkeeper had the game of his life. I truly don't believe we deserve to leave this stadium defeated,” he said.
“Sunday is a must-win game now. We are disappointed and we'll go over it again and again tonight. But by the morning we'll find the way to take the positives out of our display and we'll look to take three points on Sunday. I don't think we'll treat this like it is the end of the world.”
The last time the two sides met was in June 2010 when a solitary goal from Gaizka Mendieta was enough to hand Spain a 1-0 victory. Current Luxembourg coach Luc Holtz was part of the team which lost to Spain and he will be hoping his team can put up a good performance in their next outing with Luxembourg having won just once in their last six competitive matches.
Luc Holtz's men suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Macedonia in their last outing after Beshart Abdurahimi's late winner denied the visitors of any point.
Luxembourg vs. Spain team sheets
Luxembourg starting XI: Joubert; Chanot, Jänisch, Jans, Philipps; Gerson, Martins, Mutsch, Holter; Da Mota; Bensi
Spain starting XI: De Gea; Carvajal, Pique, Bartra, Alba; Busquets, Koke, Iniesta, Silva; Alcacer, Costa
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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