Alderweireld and Courtois book their ticket to the World Cup
Alderweireld and Courtois were instrumental in the Belgium victory against Croatia (1-2), who qualified for the World Cup. Arda Turan was instrumental in the success of Turkey in Estonia (0-2) and will go to the playoffs. Cristian Rodriguez, Godin and Gimenez started in the defeat in Ecuador (1-0).
Spain beat Belarus 2-1 in Mallorca in a match in which goals from Xavi (60') and Negredo (77') came after the break. The Roja almost sealed their qualification for the 2014 Brazil World Cup. Del Bosque’s side only need a point to book their ticket to defend their title won in South Africa. Koke participated in the last seven minutes of the game. Mario and Juanfran did not play.
Spain U-21 won by the minimum against Bosnia (3-2). They had to overcome an initial goal from Grahovac with goals from Sergi Roberto, Saul and Morata before Kvesic pulled one back. Óliver Torres showed flashes of quality throughout and started the third goal. On Monday they play their fourth match against Hungary.
Arda Turan started with Turkey against Estonia and was instrumental in the win at home by 2 goals to nil. This result, together with the rout of the Netherlands over Hungary (8-1 ) mean a win on Tuesday against Holland would see them in the playoff.
Cristian Rodriguez , Godin and Gimenez were starters in the Uruguay side in their visit to Ecuador. They could not prevent defeat by a goal to nil with Jefferson Montero getting the goal in the 30th minute of the first half to make the difference.
The Belgians Thibaut Courtois and Toby Alderweireld also started against Croatia, with Toby playing on the right. They won 2-1 with two goals from Lukaku booking their ticket to the World Cup in Brazil. On Tuesday they will play their second game against Wales in Belgium. Finally, Bono played as Morocco drew 1-1 against South Africa in a friendly played in Agadir.
