Spain 3-1 Bosnia: Nolito scored twice in scrappy La Roja win
Spain overcame Bosnia 3-1 on Sunday, although they had a few problems in an odd game which saw Vicente del Bosque have to pick a team without having the nucleus of his squad available to him.
Eight players (Asenjo, Bellerin, Asensio, Denis Suarez, Diego Llorente, Pablo Fornals, Williams and Oyarzabal) made their debuts, but it was Nolito who headlined, with his first half brace leading La Roja to victory.
The Celta Vigo forward, a target for Luis Enrique at Barcelona, scored two great goals, the first from the edge of the area and the second a fine chip, before Spahic pulled one back after half an hour.
Supported by good movement from Cesc Fabregas, Asensio and Bruno, Nolito was the driving force and could have had a hat-trick but for two saves from Begovic.
A good first half performance was followed up by a disappointing showing in the second half. Bosnia played the majority of the game with 10 men after goal scorer Spahic was dismissed in the opening period.
Asenjo made two smart saves from Djuric and Duljevic and even Del Bosque’s changes didn’t have an affect on the game as Spain struggled to kick on.
Oyararzabal missed a good chance to kill the game off following good service from Denis Suarez, but Spain did make it 3-1 late on when Pedro scored from close range after Begovic had saved from Inaki Williams.
Spain: Asenjo, Bellerin, Bartra, San Jose (Fornals, m.83), Azpilicueta, Bruno, Cesc (Diego Llorente, m.60), Marco Asensio (Williams, m.60), Silva (Denis Suárez, m.46), Nolito (Oyarzábal, m.60), Aduriz (Pedro, m.46).
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Begovic; Vranjes (Memisevic, m.90), Spahic, Zukanovic, Kolasinac, Besic, Hadzic (Medunjanin, m.67), Visca (Hajrovic, m.46), Pjanic, Hodzic (Duljevic, m.57), Dzeko (Duric, m.22; Grahovac, m.78).
