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Diego Costa pulls out of Spain squad: Striker injured playing for Chelsea

Costa will miss games against Ukraine and Netherlands

Simon Rice
Tuesday 24 March 2015 11:16 GMT
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Diego Costa is replaced by Loic Remy
Diego Costa is replaced by Loic Remy

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has pulled out of Spain's squad owing to a hamstring injury sustained whilst playing against Hull City at the weekend.

It means the Brazilian born player will miss the holders' Euro 2016 qualifier at home to Ukraine on Friday and a friendly away to Netherlands four days later.

Spanish football federation medical staff confirmed the injury in tests in Madrid in a statement this morning.

"Diego Costa will return to Chelsea where he will undergo the corresponding medical treatment," the federation said.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho admitted Costa's injury issues are a concern after the 3-2 win over Hull on Sunday in which Costa scored before requesting to come off after 77 minutes.

Asked if he was worried about Costa, Mourinho said: “Yes, but I don’t know how serious it is. When a striker is playing and you need a goal to win a game with 15 minutes to go, when he says it’s over for him, then it’s over for me.

“He has this problem since he tried to play in the Champions League final.

“We know his hamstring is not a strong one, he works hard during the week to compensate for this weakness he has there, but an injury can come.”

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has already drafted Juanmi in as cover, the 21-year-old Malaga forward winning his first call-up after representing Spain at junior level.

With four matches played, Spain are second in Group C on nine points, three behind leaders Slovakia, who beat them 2-1 in Zilina in October, and level with Ukraine.

The friendly against Netherlands in Amsterdam on March 31 is a repeat of the 2010 World Cup final and the first time the teams clash since Netherlands crushed Spain 5-1 in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup.

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