Del Bosque defends misfiring Costa

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque defended Diego Costa after the Chelsea striker again failed to score for his country.

Costa, 26, has scored only once in eight appearances for Spain since choosing to represent them rather than his native Brazil.

He won the penalty, converted by Andres Iniesta, that sealed a 2-0 win over Slovakia and took Spain to the top of Group C in the race for a place at Euro 2016 in France.

But he otherwise struggled to make much of an impression and was substituted for Paco Alcacer with 15 minutes remaining.

Del Bosque told a news conference: “Of course I would like him to score, but he did some good work.

“Against a team playing so defensively, the player who has the most difficult job is the one in his position.

“He moved well and he kept the defenders busy. We have to be patient. A lot of the time when he gets the ball, he has his back to goal.”

The coach voiced his frustration with home fans at the game in Ovideo after Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was whistled throughout the match.

Pique had made derogatory remarks about Real Madrid after Barcelona won the UEFA Super Cup earlier this month.

An irritated Del Bosque said: “I find it disgraceful that there are people who whistle a national team player. Gerard played fantastically well today.”

He said his side had been deserved winners, adding: “They had their moment with the score at 0-0, and they wanted us to lose patience as we did not have much intensity. But gradually they became weaker.

“Yes we could have been more comfortable, but we played well and now have much choice in our squad, so can be happy with our level.”

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