(Reuters) - Real Sociedad midfielder Asier Illarramendi scored a thumping first international goal to give Spain a 1-0 win away to Israel in Group G on Monday, which rounded off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a ninth victory in 10 games. Israel had long been out of contention for a playoff place, finishing fourth on 12 points, one behind Albania in third. Coach Julen Lopetegui made nine changes from the Spain team that eased to a 3-0 win over Albania on Friday, with only Sergio Busquets, who made his 100th appearance for Spain, and captain Sergio Ramos keeping their places. "We knew this was a difficult game for different reasons but we wanted to win and take another step towards recovering our winning mentality which could help us go on and win the World Cup," Spain goalkeeper Pepe Reina told reporters. It took another Basque player in Illarramendi to finally put Spain in front, while Asensio had a late strike ruled out for offside.

Source: The Star October 09, 2017 20:48 UTC