TheNewsGuru

Tag: Spain

  • Spain set to approve euthanasia, assisted suicide

    Spain set to approve euthanasia, assisted suicide

    Spain’s parliament will give final approval to a law legalising euthanasia Thursday, becoming one of the few nations to allow terminally-ill or gravely-injured patients to end their own suffering.

    The legislation, which will take effect in June, follows growing public pressure generated by several high-profile cases, including that of Ramon Sampedro whose plight was immortalised in the Oscar-winning 2004 film “The Sea Inside”.

    Speaking to AFP, Ramona Maneiro, a friend of Sampedro’s who helped him die, hailed the move as a victory “for those who can benefit from it” and “for Ramon”.

    At the time, she was arrested but released due to lack of evidence, only admitting her role years later when the statute of limitations expired.

    The move will see Spain become the fourth country in Europe to decriminalise assisted suicide, alongside the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

    Although Portugal’s parliament passed a similar law in January, it was blocked this week by the Constitutional Court.

    The Spanish legislation will permit euthanasia in which medical staff intentionally end a life to relieve suffering, and assisted suicide in which it is the patient who carries out the procedure.

    Various other countries permit the second option, as well as so-called “passive euthanasia” in which life-saving medical treatment is halted.

     

  • Ex-Argentina coach: How we stole Messi from Spain

    Ex-Argentina coach: How we stole Messi from Spain

    Former Argentina coach Jose Peckerman admits there was a danger of Barcelona star Lionel Messi committing to Spain.

    Peckerman worked with Messi at youth and senior level.

    He told Marca: “We practically stole him from Spain. What we had seen of some videos, both Claudio Vivas who spoke with Hugo Toncalli, and we already had some reports of a little boy from Rosario … At that time I had left the national team, in 2002, and I went to Spain to work for Leganés.

    “There we saw him play for Barça youth teams. There was a FIFA regulation that has already changed, which said that a player who was a member of the youth teams could not play for the senior team from another country.

    “We made the strategy involving South Americans to play, because the European powers was also coming and in Spain he did not go unnoticed and he was going to play with the Spanish team.

    “In my first steps with Barça to comply with the FIFA regulations, a friendly match had to be held with a form signed by the players, to make it clear to FIFA that he had already played with us. I was with Laporta, I introduced myself and I told him about the authorisation for Messi to play in that match.

    “That famous match with Paraguay took place on the Argentinos Juniors pitch. Messi dazzled because he enters the second half with 1-0 and they end up winning 8-0.”

  • Spain 6-0 Germany: Man City’s Torres hits hat-trick in UEFA Nations League

    Spain 6-0 Germany: Man City’s Torres hits hat-trick in UEFA Nations League

    Manchester City winger Ferran Torres scored his first career hat-trick as Spain inflicted Germany’s heaviest competitive defeat and joined France in the four-team Nations League finals.

    In a repeat of the Euro 2008 final, former Chelsea forward Alvaro Morata headed in Spain’s first goal, before Torres volleyed home emphatically.

    Rodri made it three with a guided header, and Torres slotted in a fourth before curling home the fifth.

    Mikel Oyarzabal’s tap-in made it 6-0.

    Spain and France will be joined by either Belgium or Denmark from Group A2 and Italy, the Netherlands or Poland from Group A1.

    It was a game that Spain dominated from the off – having 70% possession and 23 shots – but it was 20-year-old Torres who stole the show.

    His fast, intelligent movement and eye for a goal has impressed in the opening weeks of the season, and his performance here strengthened the idea that Manchester City may have got a bargain after only paying an initial £20m for his services.

    His raw pace and trickery set up an incorrectly disallowed Morata goal, before he showed composure to set himself and volley home his first.

    His second again demonstrated excellent technique, as he controlled a cross that was behind him before slotting underneath Manuel Neuer.

    He saved the best for last as he superbly curled home from the edge of the area to take his international tally to four goals.

    His performance will have delighted fans in the blue half of Manchester, with the man he replaced at City, Leroy Sane, completely ineffective for the Germans.

    The only setbacks on a fantastic night for Spain were muscular injuries to captain Sergio Ramos and Sergio Canales. But manager Luis Enrique said both injuries were “of very little importance”, adding “it is not pleasant for the clubs”.

  • Nations League: Spain play draw after Ramos misses 2 penalty kicks

    Nations League: Spain play draw after Ramos misses 2 penalty kicks

    Spain captain Sergio Ramos missed two penalty kicks as Switzerland drew 1-1 with them in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday.

    Gerard Moreno came off the bench to grab a late equaliser for them to earn the draw.

    The result relegated Switzerland and Spain lost top spot in Group A4 to Germany, who earned a 3-1 win over Ukraine and lead the standings with nine points.

    Spain are second with eight points and must win Tuesday’s showdown at home to Joachim Loew’s side in order to progress to the final four.

    Ramos, who also became the most capped European player of all time, had scored all of his previous 25 penalty kicks.

    But he was thwarted when Yann Sommer guessed the right way and repelled his penalty kick in the 58th minute to preserve Switzerland’s lead.

    The hosts had taken the lead in the 23rd minute through a brilliant strike on the half volley from Remo Frueler.

    They could have doubled their advantage in the second half when Haris Seferovic rounded goalkeeper Unai Simon.

    But Ramos came to his side’s rescue and got back to clear the shot off the line.

    Spain then earned a second penalty kick in the 79th minute which led to Swiss defender Nico Elvedi being sent off for a second booking.

    However, Ramos was again outwitted by Sommer, who could not be fooled by the defender’s chipped ‘Panenka’ penalty kick and caught the ball.

    It is the first time Spain have missed two penalty kicks in one match.

    Substitute Moreno saved Ramos’ blushes in the 89th minute, lashing home a cross from Sergio Reguilon as Spain finally found a way past Sommer.

    This was after firing 20 shots at goal to Switzerland’s seven.

    “Football is like this, it’s a marvellous sport but sometimes it’s very unfair,” said Spain coach Luis Enrique.

    “We were lacking a bit of freshness but I think we played well even though we couldn’t do the most difficult thing, which is to score.

    “We deserved to win for our first half performance and for how we played in the second.”

  • Llorente, Koke, Morata named in Spain squad

    Llorente, Koke, Morata named in Spain squad

    Spain coach Luis Enrique has handed Atletico Madrid midfielder Marcos Llorente a first call-up and recalled Koke and Alvaro Morata for the upcoming internationals against the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany.

    The coach omitted Rodrigo Moreno and Dani Ceballos from the squad, as well as Thiago Alcantara who is still struggling after sustaining a knee injury last month.

    A holding midfielder for most of his career and with Spain’s under-21s, Llorente has reinvented himself as a wide forward under Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone.

    “He is a very complete player and I’ll ask him where he is most comfortable playing,” Luis Enrique told a news conference on Friday.

    “He’s very versatile, he’s scored lots of goals and provided lots of assists recently. I’m really looking forward to seeing how he does and what he can offer us.”

    Llorente’s team mate Koke is the fourth most-capped player in the squad but has not been called up since October 2018.

    “I’ve always liked Koke, he’s a top level player and a great person but there is a lot of competition in our midfield,” the coach said after recalling the midfielder.

    He praised Morata for returning to form at Juventus this season, scoring six goals in seven games in all competitions.

    “I’ve called Morata up because since he has returned to Juventus he has been full of confidence and his numbers reflect that,” he added.

    Spain visit the Netherlands for a friendly on Wednesday, then play UEFA Nations League matches away to Switzerland on Nov. 14 and at home to Germany on Nov. 17.

  • Nations League: Ukraine stun Spain in noisy stadium

    Nations League: Ukraine stun Spain in noisy stadium

    Ukraine pulled off a shock 1-0 win at home to Spain in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday at a raucous Olympic Stadium in Kyiv as fans savoured a first ever victory over the 2010 World Cup winners

    Viktor Tsygankov scored the only goal of the game as Ukraine defeated Spain in their Nations League match in Kyiv.

    Andriy Shevchenko’s side took the lead against the run of play in the 76th minute when Tsygankov took David de Gea by surprise, by firing home from outside the area, after latching on to an outstanding reverse pass from Andriy Yarmolenko.

    The goal was wildly celebrated by the whole Ukraine team and some 21,000 fans spaced out across the stadium, with the hosts taking advantage of UEFA regulations allowing 30 per cent capacity at certain matches in an easing of coronavirus restrictions.

    Ukraine had lost their last three outings, including a 4-0 reverse to Spain last month and a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of France in a friendly last week, after losing six players due to COVID-19 positives.

  • FIFA reject ex-Spain forward switch to Morocco

    FIFA reject ex-Spain forward switch to Morocco

    Fifa have blocked the proposed nationality switch of former Spain international and Sevilla forward Munir El-Haddadi, who had hoped to make his international debut for Morocco during the current international window.

    According to a statement issued by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, the player’s nationality switch has been blocked not because of his appearance with Spain’s senior time, but because of earlier outings with the U-21s when he was already 21.

    “This rejection is dictated by one of the clauses of the new [Fifa] statue concerning [Munir’s] participation in the under-21 category,” the statement began, “in particular during three matches with the Spanish U-21 selection when he was two months older.

    “The decision is not motivated by the participation of El-Haddadi in the Spanish A team.”

  • Spain, Portugal confirm 2030 FIFA World Cup bid

    Spain, Portugal confirm 2030 FIFA World Cup bid

    Spain and Portugal have signed an agreement to push ahead with their joint bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) said on Wednesday.

    The countries’ federations ratified an agreement “to promote the joint candidacy for the organisation of the World Cup in 2030, establishing strategies for the international projection of both federations and countries”, the RFEF said in a statement.

    The federations, which signed the agreement before a friendly between their national teams in Lisbon, had began analysing the possibility of a joint bid last year.

    “Few things can generate more hope and anticipation that the opportunity to organise a World Cup (present) and we can’t think of a better companion than Portugal,” said RFEF president Luis Rubiales.

    Spain hosted the 1982 World Cup and launched a failed bid along with Portugal to stage the 2018 tournament which was awarded to Russia.

    Portugal has never staged the World Cup but did hold the 2004 European Championship.

    Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay have announced they will make a four-way bid which could have sentimental value as Uruguay hosted the inaugural World Cup in 1930.

    The UK’s four associations are contemplating a joint bid along with Ireland while Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Romania are also planning a joint bid.

    The bidding process formally starts in 2022 with FIFA to choose the hosts in 2024.

  • Adama Traore named in Spain squad after Mali’s call-up

    Adama Traore named in Spain squad after Mali’s call-up

    Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore was named in the Spain squad by coach Luis Enrique on Friday, three days after also being called up by Mali.

    Traore, who was born in Barcelona to Malian parents, has been at the centre of a tug-of-war between the two federations over the past 18 months.

    He can still represent either nation as he has not yet played senior international football.

    The winger was selected by Luis Enrique for last month’s fixtures against Germany and Ukraine, but was forced to withdraw from the squad following a positive COVID-19 test.

    There is also a recall for Arsenal’s on-loan midfielder Dani Ceballos, while under-fire Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga retains his spot in the squad

    There is no room for Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez and Real Madrid’s schemer Isco, while Liverpool new boy Thiago Alcantara is absent after testing positive for COVID-19.

    Levante midfielder Jose Campana is the only new name in the 25-man squad that also contains Barcelona FC wonderkid Ansu Fati, Tottenham Hotspur new boy Sergio Reguilon.

    Others are Manchester City trio Eric Garcia, Ferran Torres and Rodri for their friendly against Portugal on Oct. 7 and two Nations League clashes against Switzerland on Oct. 10 and Ukraine on Oct. 13.

    Spain squad:

    Goalkeepers: David De Gea, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Unai Simon.

    Defenders: Jesus Navas, Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Pau Torres, Eric Garcia, Diego Llorente, Jose Gaya, Sergio Reguilon.

    Midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Merino, Dani Ceballos, Sergio Canales, Jose Campana.

    Forwards: Rodrigo, Mikel Oyarzabal, Ansu Fati, Gerard Moreno, Dani Olmo, Ferran Torres, Adama Traore.

  • Iker Casillas announces retirement from football

    Iker Casillas announces retirement from football

    Iker Casillas has officially announced his retirement at the end of a 22-year playing career, with the legendary Real Madrid goalkeeper hanging up his gloves at the age of 39.

    The World Cup winner has not taken in a competitive appearance since suffering a serious health scare in May 2019.

    He recovered from a heart attack to rejoin the ranks at Porto and was named in their squad for the 2019-20 campaign.

    He posted on social media: “The most important thing is the path you travel and the people who accompany you, not the destination that it takes you.

    “I think I can say, without hesitation, that this has been the right path and the dream destination. Thanks.”