Del Bosque: Spain stopped playing

Vicente del Bosque has claimed that Spain “stopped playing” once they scored their winner in Tuesday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Macedonia.

La Roja found the elusive finish after just eight minutes via Juan Mata's fortuitous cross-cum-shot, despite it being credited as a Tome Pacovski own goal, but the Coach criticised his team for only emerging victorious “by chance”.

“We beat [Macedonia] by chance and got the basics wrong. We didn't play well,” he told reporters.

“It's hard to explain [why we played how we did], but we showed plenty of willingness in the first half and not so much in the second.

“[On Diego Costa] we can single anyone who played out, but it'd be unfair on a collective and individual level.

“[For that reason], we can't single anyone out. Diego played like the others did.

“We scored our goal by chance. Once we scored, we stopped playing. We played slowly, without any substance.

“We played a little bit but didn't succeed in grasping the three basic concepts of football; defending, creating chances and finishing them off.

“I was sure that [David] de Gea would do well. I wasn't afraid [of starting him] because he's a mature guy and trained well.

“[Macedonia] did well. They were energetic, keen and their fans were very supportive. They were a tough team to play and, to their credit, didn't let us play.”

Tags Euro 2016 FYROM Macedonia Spain Vicente Del Bosque
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