Spain recall Ramos, drop Costa
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| AFP |
Diego Costa and Andres Iniesta will play no part in the final two UEFA EURO 2016 qualifiers but defender Sergio Ramos was in the Spain squad Vicente del Bosque for the games with Luxembourg and Ukraine.
European champions Spain top Group C with 21 points ahead of Slovakia on 19 and Ukraine on 16, with a home game with Luxemburg on 9 October and in Ukraine three days later. "Costa is suspended for the first game so we decided not to take him to Ukraine either," Del Bosque said, to explain the absence of the Chelsea striker, who is suspended for the first encounter after picking up too many yellow cards. Iniesta, meanwhile, is out with a hamstring injury.
Celta Vigo's Nolito tops La Liga's scoring charts while the 22-year-old Juventus striker Alvaro Morato has recently scored in the EURO qualifiers and in the Champions League. But Del Bosque, whose side are chasing a historic third consecutive European title, was upbeat about the rampaging Real Madrid defender Ramos.
"Exchanges with the Madrid medical team have been very positive indeed and we hope he'll be starting next Tuesday," said Del Bosque, whose defensive leader suffered a dislocated shoulder late last month. "We've won eight of our last games. I'm not bragging but things are on track," said Del Bosque, who will book tickets to France 2016 with a win over Luxemburg.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (FC Porto/POR), David de Gea (Manchester United/ENG), Sergio Rico (Sevilla/ESP)
Defenders: Juanfran (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid/ESP), Gerard Pique, Marc Bartra, Jordi Alba (Barcelona/ESP), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea/ENG), Inigo Martínez (Real Sociedad/ESP)
Midfield: Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelone/ESP), Bruno Soriano (Villarreal/ESP), Santi Cazorla (Arsenal/ENG), Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea/ENG), Isco (Real Madrid/ESP), Thiago Alcántara (Bayern Munich/GER), David Silva (Manchester City/ENG), Juan Mata (Manchester United/ENG)
Strikers: Pedro Rodriguez (Chelsea/ENG), Paco Alcacer (Valencia/ESP), Nolito (Celta Vigo/ESP), Alvaro Morata (Juventus/ITA)