SPORTS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2014 Euro 2016 qualifiers likely to be a damp squib BERNE: Two wins in 10 matches could be enough to only two matches, or despite losing five. Of the teams testing match at home to Scotland while Portugal have reach Euro 2016 following UEFA’s decision to expand who finished third in the 2014 World Cup qualifying a gentle start at home to Albania, an excellent chance the final tournament to 24 teams while keeping the groups, Finland had a record of two wins, three draws to put their World Cup woes behind them. same format for the qualifying competition. Nearly half and three defeats while Slovenia won five and lost five Spain, looking to recover from a nightmare in Brazil, of UEFA’s 54 teams will take part at the finals in France, of their ten games and Slovakia had three wins, four will also be grateful to be kicking off at home to turning the qualifying competition, which kicks off draws and three defeats. That would earn them a play- Macedonia on Monday in a group that also features tomorrow amid almost complete indifference, into of a off under the Euro 2016 format, where two draws could Ukraine, Slovakia, Belarus and Luxemburg. Meanwhile, matter of who will not qualify rather than who will. The be enough to take them to France if they win on away Gibraltar play their first-ever competitive international World Cup, with its attacking football and endless dra- goals or via a penalty shootout. when they host Poland, in Faro, Portugal tomorrow. In ma was a timely boost for international football, some- the context of who will secure second and third places, times seen as a poor relation to the Champions League Twenty-six hopefuls Austria’s match at home to Sweden stands out, as well and the top domestic leagues. The new format will at least give some hope to the as Denmark-Armenia, Georgia-Ireland, Hungary- But if Brazil represented a step forwards for the inter- 26 teams who have never qualified before: Albania, Northern Ireland, Montenegro-Moldova, Ukraine- national game, then Euro 2016 qualifying could well be Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Cyprus, Slovakia and Estonia-Slovenia. two steps back with the focus largely on who gets sec- Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Georgia, Gibraltar, Even UEFA president Michel Platini, who promised ond and third place in the five or six team groups. Top Iceland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, to make national team football his priority when he was sides such as Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Spain, Luxemburg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, re-elected in 2011, has admitted the format lacks spark. who qualified easily for the World Cup even when only Northern Ireland, San Marino, Slovakia and Wales. “I think we have 24 good teams in Europe, more or less 13 European places were up for grabs, should stroll Europe’s performance at the last two World Cups of the same calibre, so the quality (of the finals) won’t through without barely raising a sweat. There will be suggests that, while the continent has three or four very be affected,” he said. “The only small difficulty will be eight groups of six teams and one of five, with the top strong teams, it lacks strength in depth. On both occa- with the qualifiers, because there will be some less two teams in each group qualifying directly with the sions, seven out of the 13 European teams failed to interesting matches at that level as the national associa- best of the third-placed teams and hosts France. make it past the group stage. By comparison, all five tions wanted the same system.” “We will have two or The remaining eight third-placed teams are involved South American sides progressed in 2010 and five out three teams qualifying from groups of six, so matches in two-leg playoffs for the remaining four places. It of six went through in 2014. World champions Germany will be less decisive, but the tournament itself will be means that teams could qualify for France by winning kick off their campaign tomorrow with a moderately just as interesting.”— Reuters Spain struggling to get the best out of Costa MADRID: Spain’s 1-0 friendly defeat to France on Thursday showed coach Vicente del Bosque still has to find the right formula to get the best out of forward Diego Costa as he seeks to rejuvenate the team after a woeful World Cup. Brazil-born Costa’s goals for Atletico Madrid last season led to him being called up by his adopted country for the finals and earned him a big-money move to Chelsea, where he has continued his prolific form at club level. However, after five appear- ances he has yet to open his Spain account and there is a sense the European champions’ playing style, which relies on grinding down opponents with long periods of possession, may not be suited to his more direct approach. Costa said it was up to him to adapt and was confident of breaking his duck, perhaps as early as Spain’s opening Euro 2016 qualifier against Macedonia on Monday. “I sincerely believe that with work the results will come and that’s what I am focusing on,” Costa told reporters. “Things are going very well for me at Chelsea and that encourages me to continue improv- ing.” Del Bosque said the team needed to work harder to create chances for Costa and suggested he is prepared to give the 25-year-old plenty of time to settle. “Diego Costa has shown what he is capable of, now we have to connect with him, understand him,” Del Bosque told Spanish television. “He put in a lot of effort and he is certain to give us positive results.” Although it was with an experimental side, Spain’s reverse in Paris showed the 2010 world champions still have some way to go to recapture the form that secured back-to-back European titles with a debut World Cup in between. Del Bosque, without midfield stal- warts Xavi and Xabi Alonso, who retired after the finals in Brazil, and injured playmaker Andres Iniesta, used the game to try out a number of new faces, including midfielders Raul Garcia and Ander Iturraspe, SAINT-DENIS: Spanish forward Diego Costa vies with French midfielder Blaise Matuidi (right) during the friendly football defender Mikel San Jose and forward Paco Alcacer. match France vs Spain, on September 4, 2014. — AFP He also gave goalkeeper David De Gea a chance to impress while leaving captain Iker Casillas on the bench. Spain showed a measure of control against a powerful French team but, worryingly for Del Bosque, they failed to muster a single shot on target and were undone when S Korea names Stielike as new national coach substitute Loic Remy cracked in a fine effort in the 72nd minute. “They SEOUL: South Korea appointed former Germany international and spent time with Swiss side FC Sion. Stielike, who hadn’t were missing Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Iniesta, who used to play together with their eyes closed,” France coach Didier Deschamps said at a news con- and managerial journeyman Uli Stielike as the national team’s been linked with the job until Friday’s announcement, has been ference. “Vicente del Bosque is a great coach but he is no magician.” new coach yesterday, in a surprise move that completed its tasked with rebuilding and then guiding the South Koreans to a search for a foreign coach. Stielike, who played 42 times for successful 2015 Asian Cup in Australia in January. The team was Important Core West Germany but has endured a mixed coaching career, has jeered by fans on their return from Brazil in the summer and Del Bosque, who will field what is on paper a much stronger side signed a contract until the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Korea Hong promptly left, with the KFA saying they would appoint a from the start for the Macedonia game, saw “some positives” in the Football Association (KFA) said in a statement. He replaces foreign manager. defeat. “We found it tough to create scoring chances but in general Hong Myung-Bo, who resigned in July following South Korea’s Last month, the association came close to reaching a deal terms it was a good match. We will go forward little by little,” he told a disappointing group-stage exit at the World Cup in Brazil, but with Dutchman Bert van Marwijk but negotiations broke down news conference. “We showed we are a good team and the newcom- some fans greeted the appointment with concern. The German over taxation and other issues. Stielike, 59, will be South Korea’s ers proved they have what it takes to be with us. “We are working on enjoyed a stellar playing career, making more than 200 appear- first boss from overseas since Dutchman Pim Verbeek stepped regenerating the team but generally we have kept an important core ances for Real Madrid and winning the European down in 2007. Guus Hiddink, also from the Netherlands, has group.” Another positive for Del Bosque was the impact that playmak- Championships with West Germany in 1980. been the most successful, taking South Korea to the semi-finals er Isco had on the match after he replaced Santi Cazorla in the 77th After retiring he coached Switzerland between 1989 and of the World Cup in 2002 with Hong as captain. Fans took to minute. The 22-year-old has yet to nail down an automatic starting 1991 and most recently worked in Qatar, with two different social media on Friday to express concern at Stielike’s appoint- place at his club Real Madrid but linked up well with David Silva and clubs-Al-Arabi and Al-Sailiya.