Spain coach del Bosque defends misfiring Costa

By Reuters - Sep 06,2015 - Last updated at Sep 06,2015

OVIEDO, Spain — Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has given strong backing to Diego Costa even after the Chelsea forward drew another blank in Saturday’s Euro 2016 qualifying victory at home to Slovakia.

Holders Spain leapfrogged the Eastern Europeans to the top of Group C thanks to a 2-0 success in Oviedo but Costa again failed to score and has netted just one goal in eight appearances since opting last year to play for La Roja instead of his native Brazil.

The 26-year-old did win a penalty, converted by Andres Iniesta after Jordi Alba’s early header, but otherwise struggled to make any impact on Slovakia’s well-drilled defence before making way for Paco Alcacer 15 minutes from time.

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

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