India | UK | US

PREVIEW: Slick Spain aiming to go top of Group 5

Posted : Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:27:02 GMT
By : DPA
Category : Sports
News Alerts by Email ( click here )
Sports News | Home
Albacete, Spain - Spain are aiming to go top of European World Cup qualifying Group 5 on Wednesday - by beating minnows Armenia. The Euro 2008 winners are currently joint top of the group - together with Belgium and Turkey - after a stylish 1-0 defeat of Bosnia on Saturday.

"There will not be many changes for Wednesday," manager Vicente del Bosque said.

Forwards David Silva and Fernando Torres are still injured.

Sevilla youngster Diego Capel looked lively down the left on Saturday, but was chopped down on less than 12 occasions - once for a penalty - and is still battered and bruised.

If Capel does not recover in time then he will be replaced by Santi Cazorla, which means that Spain will again be withouta true winger, the same as at Euro 2008.

Del Bosque is also considering beefing up his midfield with Xabi Alonso, maybe to the detriment of Cesc Fabregas.

"We will need to be a bit stronger in midfield, and a little bit sharper in attack, in front of goal," said Del Bosque.

Spain created countless chances on Saturday but converted only one - through Euro top scorer David Villa.

Villa will again be the lone striker, in a 4-5-1 formation.

Another question mark hanging over the match is whether Bojan Krkic will finally make his full international debut.

The Barcelona star, just turned 18, has been on the Spain bench three times now, but has still to get onto the pitch. This has led Serbia manager Radomir Antic to express the hope that Bojan might still opt for Serbia - the country of his father - rather than for Spain.

The game will be staged in the small eastern town of Albacete, where all the tickets have been sold out for two weeks now.

Copyright DPA

Share/Save/Bookmark

Article : PREVIEW: Slick Spain aiming to go top of Group 5
Print this article
Email this article

Stay Updated
News gadget on your Google homepage
Subscribe to a news feed in Google Reader


Related News

Swiss club Thun drop striker for cup game
Geneva - Swiss second division club FC Thun has dropped striker Omar Faye for a cup game on Sunday following allegations that the player was involved in the current betting scandal that has taken European football by storm. Swiss media said that Thun...

Manchester United defender defends Henry
Valletta, Malta- Labelling French striker Thierry Henry a cheat for his controversial handball against Ireland last Wednesday is wrong, Manchester United captain Gary Neville has said. Writing in his weekly column for The Sunday Times of Malta, Nevil...

Norway and Sweden win opening relays - Summary
Beitostolen, Norway - There was joy for the Norwegian men's and Swedish women's cross-country relay teams as they won the season's opening World Cup events in Beitostolen on Sunday. Going into the final lap of the 4x10 kilometre race Norway, Russia a...

German police put brakes on illegal car race
Hockenheim, Germany - Police in the western German city of Hockenheim broke up an illegal car-racing meeting taking place overnight at the famous Hockenheimring, home to the German Grand Prix, officials said Sunday. A local resident informed police o...

FIFA expert says match fixing is as bad as doping
Hamburg - A betting expert of football's controlling body FIFA, Wolfgang Feldner, has described match fixing as dangerous as doping. Match-fixing for betting purposes are one of the biggest threats to football, as dangerous as doping, the German said...

Sweden take women's relay
Beitostolen, Norway - The Swedish women's cross-country skiing team on Sunday won the first relay of the World Cup season, when they took the 4x5 kilometre event in Beitostolen. The Swedish relay team of Anna Olsson, Sara Lindborg, Anna Haag and Char...

Messi to miss Barcelona-Inter clash
Madrid - Barcelona's star striker Lionel Messi will miss Tuesday's crucial Champions League clash at home to Inter Milan, the European champions announced Sunday. The little Argentine pulled a mucle in his left thigh in Saturday's disappointing 1-1 d...

Have your Say
Name
Email
Subject
Your Comment

Enter Verification code
 
  

 

 

More Sports News click here
Follow The Earth Times
Subscribe to RSS Follow Earth Times on TwitterNews by email
Share/Save/Bookmark

 
 



 
Subscribe to free Earthtimes
News Alerts by Email Click here
For RSS Feeds Click here
or Create your own RSS

Add to Google Toolbar
Breaking News
Press Releases

 


The Earth Times
News Category

© 2009 www.earthtimes.org, The Earth Times, All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy
Earth Times accept no responsibility or liability either directly or indirectly for views or opinions expressed in articles or comments.