News
JUE 08.09.2016
Spain's new coach Julen Lopetegui can be happy with his side's dominant display, with 13 LaLiga Santander players featuring in La Roja's opening World Cup qualifier for Russia 2018. Vitolo made an instant impact with a sterling performance in the friendly against Belgium and a deserved goal in the rout of Liechtenstein. Alvaro Morata and Sergi Roberto were also stand-out figures as they got their names on the scoresheet against Rene Pauritsch's outfit. Dani Carvajal, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos and Jordi Alba all exhibited their defensive solidity, while Koke could hardly be in better form for his return to club action with Atletico Madrid.
Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric also played key roles for their national team. Croatia shared the spoils with Turkey, with the Barcelona midfielder scoring from the penalty spot. Wales kicked off their World Cup qualifying campaign on Monday with Gareth Bale running the show in a 4-0 demolition of Moldova in which the Real Madrid forward bagged a brace and also provided an assist. Toni Kroos and Marc-Andre ter Stegen's Germany were in a ruthless mood and ran out 3-0 winners away to Norway. Daniel Wass and Riza Durmisi were part of the Denmark squad that got off to a winning start, while Roman Zozulya and Denys Boyko's Ukraine picked up a point against Iceland.
Perfect start! Awesome from the lads.. We go again next month #togetherstronger pic.twitter.com/WqukgxqDg3
— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) September 5, 2016
Pepe, Joao Cancelo and Nani were all among the goals in Portugal's 5-0 thumping of Gibraltar. Rene Krhin produced a sublime performance with his goal coupled with Cesar's injury-time effort earning Slovenia a hard-fought point against Lithuania. Atletico's Belgian star Yannick Carrasco also impressed and added some gloss to the scoreline in Roberto Martinez's side's 3-0 win over Cyprus.
Kevin Gameiro was one of the newcomers in the France squad and he came on in the goalless draw against Belarus to play alongside Antoine Griezmann and Raphael Varane. Many LaLiga stars also shone on the other side of the pond, with FC Barcelona's trio of forwards all tasting victory with their respective national teams. Lionel Messi returned to action with Argentina and scored the only goal of the game against Uruguay, although he had to return to Spain after the match due to a groin problem. Luis Suarez was instrumental in Uruguay's 4-0 drubbing of Paraguay, scoring a penalty for the final goal of the game and setting up two of the others. Neymar was in hot goalscoring form for Brazil, netting from the spot against Colombia and also in the trouncing of Ecuador.
Luis Suárez and Neymar score as Uruguay and Brazil win, while Argentina draw in Venezuela https://t.co/vju7XSXtiO pic.twitter.com/sM5SD8TsI5
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 7, 2016
Malaga CF's Venezuelan star Juanpi put in a breathtaking performance which included a stunning opening goal in the 2-2 stalemate against Argentina. Before that, however, he had been powerless to prevent his country succumbing to Colombia, in a game in which James Rodriguez showcased his finest football with a goal and an assist.
© LALIGA - 2016