Spain took the first step towards erasing the bad memories from the World Cup with a comfortable win 5-1 over Macedonia to kickoff their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
Spain vs. Macedonia, Euro 2016 qualifying: Final score 5-1, La Furia Roja cruise to victory
Macedonia were competitive early, but Spain simply overpowered them as the match went on.
Denis Doyle
Macedonia created the game's first dangerous moment off a free kick in the 5th minute. Agim Ibraimi lifted his shot up and over the wall, dropping down towards the upper right corner of the net. Iker Casillas reacted well, managing to extend his arm and just push the ball over the crossbar.
In the 14th minute, Stefan Ristovski got beat to the ball inside the penalty area by Pedro, and clipped the Barcelona winger to give Spain a PK. Sergio Ramos stepped up to the spot, did a little dance an sent a pacey chip past Pacovski to make it 1-0.
Less than two minutes later Spain doubled their lead on the break. David Silva dropped a diagonal pass to Juanfran who’d made a run towards the line. The fullback settled the pass and crossed it back across the face of goal to Alcacer for an easy tap-in, and a 2-0 Spain lead.
Juanfran got whistled for a penalty in the 27th minute when he made a reckless sliding tackle on Aleksandar Trajkovski after the midfielder had gotten past him on the left side of the box. There wasn’t much contact at all from the Spain defender, but Juanfran didn’t appear to get the ball either. Whether Spain agreed or not, the call was made and Ibraimi sent Casillas the wrong way, pulling Macedonia back within a goal at 2-1.
After a couple greats saves from Pacovski to keep his side in the game, Sergio Busquets took advantage of a deflection on the last kick of the first half to extend Spain's lead back to two goals. The midfielder's shot from outside the area hit off the foot or leg of Vance Sikov and eluded Pacovski inside the far post to make it 3-1.
Spain extended their lead yet again early in the second half when David Silva played a quick one-two on the break with Jordi Alba before firing a left-footed shot past Pacovski to give Spain a 4-1 lead.
Pedro added a fifth goal in second half stoppage time with a lovely chip over Pacovski.
Spain: Casillas, Albiol, Ramos (Bartra 68’), Juanfran, Alba, Busquets, Koke (Munir 77’), Fàbregas, Alcacer (Isco 57’), Pedro, David Silva
Goals: Ramos (14’), Alcacer (17’), Busquets (45’), Silva (50’), Pedro (90’)
Macedonia: Pacovski, Cuculi, Mojsov, Sikov, Ristovski, Alioski (Demiri 46’), Trajkovski, Ibraimi, Abdurahimi (Velkoski 75’), Spirovski (Radeski 64’), Jahovic
Goals: Ibraimi (28’)
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