Suarez could make Clasico bow

Luis Suarez could make his Barcelona debut in the first Clasico of the season after the clash with Real Madrid was scheduled for October 25.

The Uruguayan, who signed from Liverpool for a fee believed to be around €90million (£70m) during the close-season, has been unable to play competitively for his new club after being caught biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

It was the third time in four years that Suarez had bitten an opponent on the field, and FIFA were quick to punish him, initially suspending the forward for four months from all football-related activity and Uruguay's next nine competitive internationals.

That ban was subsequently revised, with the 27-year-old allowed to train and play friendlies for his club, but the end is now in sight for the striker after details of the ninth round of La Liga fixtures were released.

Suarez would only have missed out had the match been set for Friday October 24 - the final day of his ban.

The former Ajax man made a brief cameo in Barca's 6-0 victory over Leon in their final pre-season friendly last month.

Barca have since won their opening two league matches against Elche and Villarreal.

Hiddink ´livid´ after Czech loss

Netherlands coach Guus Hiddink said it took him a while to swallow their 2-1 loss to the Czech Republic in Tuesday's Euro 2016 qualifier.

Hiddink's men conceded in second-half injury time in calamitous fashion in Prague, Vaclav Pilar tapping in to an empty net after Daryl Janmaat's attempt to find goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen was wayward.

The World Cup semi-finalists had equalised earlier in the second half via Stefan de Vrij, cancelling out Borek Dockal's 21st-minute opener.

Hiddink was furious his side failed to take anything away from the fixture.

"I was livid," Hiddink said.

"I had to introduce myself to shelter. That's why I stayed away for half an hour.

"If you cannot win, you must be sure that you will not lose in any case. Then you should not be so stupid to give away [a goal]."

Hiddink lambasted Janmaat for his defensive error, and said Dutch errors led to the Czechs' opening goal also.

"When you make mistakes like that, then it is a very difficult story," he said.

"Whether you play football with four or five defenders, it does not matter if you're so naive defending.

"The first goal they shoot great inside, but for that we had to suffer two clumsy turnovers.

"That second goal we completely gave away."

Czech coach Pavel Vrba was thrilled to finally oversee his first win in charge of the national team since taking the reins in January.

Vrba admitted they were fortunate, after opting to play on the counter-attack after De Vrij's equaliser.

"I am thrilled, perfectly happy with the 2-1 win, although it wasn't easy and we were a bit lucky at the end," said Vrba, after his fifth match in charge.

"We scored a beautiful goal that helped us a lot. In the second half we waited, it would have been suicide to play in their half.

"We tried to succeed on the break and reaped the bonus of the winning goal."

Terim slams Turkey players

Turkey coach Fatih Terim slammed his players and warned he would not hesitate to make changes after their 3-0 loss in Iceland on Tuesday.

Terim's side made a horrendous start in their bid to reach Euro 2016 from Group A as Iceland embarrassed them in Reykjavik.

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson all scored for Iceland, while Turkey had Omer Toprak sent off for a second yellow card in the 59th minute.

Patience among Turkish football fans is not high after three successive failures to make major tournaments.

And although the increase from 16 to 24 teams in the European Championship means they should reach the 2016 tournament in France, this was not a good start.

Terim – who said he was "very much disappointed" with the result, added: "I was worried before the game that the team was not totally ready.

"I congratulate Iceland, they played better than us and we deserved the loss. I hope that such a thing will not happen again.

"If we had not dropped down to 10 men, we might have brought the game to a draw.

"Only players who can cope with this level of football will continue with us. The national team is where you should perform 100 per cent."

Lagerback lauds Iceland´s start

Lars Lagerback was ecstatic with Iceland's first-half performance after the Nordic nation accounted for 10-man Turkey 3-0 on Tuesday.

Iceland's Euro 2016 Group A qualifying campaign got off to the perfect start in Reykjavik thanks to goals from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson.

Lagerback's men, who narrowly missed out on reaching the 2014 World Cup after losing a two-legged play-off against Croatia, dominated from the outset with Bodvarsson heading home the opener in the 18th minute.

The hosts controlled proceedings from that point as Sigurdsson and Sigthorsson completed the scoring in the second half and Lagerback said the opening 45 minutes was the best he had seen since taking the reins in 2011.

"I think we had a really, really good game. I am impressed by the players, we prepared the whole week and the first half was maybe one of the best halves since I came to the team," the 66-year-old told reporters post-game.

"Then in the second half we controlled it well and were very effective, and I am very satisfied with the players."

The Swedish coach was also impressed with the defensive aspect of Iceland's game after the 41st-ranked nation kept their fifth clean sheet from their past seven fixtures on home soil.

Iceland's back four of Ari Skulason, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Kari Arnason and Birkir Bjarnason were compact throughout as Turkey failed to trouble goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson.

"The most important thing when you play with an individually skilful team like Turkey is that we keep the team together when we defend and be well-organised and do not lose out in one-on-one situations," said Lagerback.

"I only remember they had one real goalscoring chance. So that is the best thing you can say about the players – it was really, really good."

Ajax forward Sigthorsson added some gloss to the scoreline with Iceland's third goal in the 77th minute - taking his tally to 16 goals in 24 international appearances.

Sigthorsson, who has scored eight goals in his past 10 matches for Iceland, said Tuesday's performance was "perfect".

"It was a great game from all of the players. We played very well for 90 minutes, I think," he said.

"First half? Great. Second half? Rock solid and with enough chances to win by more than 3-0, I think. Overall, a fantastic performance from the team.

"I think we played well against [Turkey's 3-4-3] formation. The coach said we had to stick together as a team to defend really well and it worked out very well.

"I think the performance was actually perfect - as he expected from us."

Kovac hoping for improvement

Niko Kovac said he wants a 90-minute performance from Croatia after they edged past Malta 2-0 in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier.

Croatia were made to work against minnows Malta, despite having a numerical advantage after Steve Borg was sent off in the 31st minute of their Group H encounter in Zagreb on Tuesday.

The hosts failed to make any inroads during the first half and it was not until the 46th minute that the deadlock was broken by birthday boy Luka Modric.

Andrej Kramaric - earning just his second cap - sealed the points nine minutes from time in the Croatian capital.

While Kovac was satisfied with the win, the 42-year-old said he is hoping to see his side reduce their errors.

"We met our target. We have three important points to start off qualification," Kovac said.

"We shall analyse the match, maybe to see where we made some mistakes, particularly in the first half. I will not single out anyone - the whole team gave their best.

"Congratulations to everyone. My players are eager to play matches. They are getting better and better.

"The goal is to play an entire 90 minutes well. Maybe against Malta it was not the case, but that is the goal."

Modric, who celebrated his 29th birthday and 80th cap in style, ended his international goal drought.

The Real Madrid midfielder had not scored since Croatia's 3-1 victory over Israel in September 2011 but he played down the goal.

"It was not an easy match for us, it was difficult. Malta were defending very well, even when they were down to 10 players," Modric said.

"But we opened the second half with the goal and that made our job much easier. At the end we could have scored more goals, but the victory is the most important thing.

"I scored my first goal after three years for the national team, but it is not a relief now, why it should be a relief?"

Pjanic apologises to Bosnia fans

Bosnia-Herzegovina midfielder Miralem Pjanic shouldered the blame for Tuesday's surprise loss to Cyprus in their Group B opener.

Bosnia's Euro 2016 qualifying campaign got off to the worst possible start on home soil after Demetris Christofi's brace cancelled out Vedad Ibisevic's sixth-minute opener in Zenica.

The home side did have a golden opportunity to salvage a point in the 90th minute, when captain Edin Dzeko was fouled inside the area but Pjanic's penalty was saved by Antonis Georgallides.

"I feel sorry for my team and our fans. I took the penalty and didn't score, and I take responsibility for this loss," the 24-year-old said.

"It is true that this is just the beginning of qualification, and that we still have time to fix things, but I'm sorry it ended up this way.

"Right now I can't explain why we played so badly."

Meanwhile, coach Safet Susic lamented Bosnia's complacency after taking an early lead at the Stadion Bilino Polje.

"We didn't deserve to win. We played well for the first 10 minutes and got an early goal. After that, simply nothing worked," said Susic.

"It looked like we were satisfied with an early lead, and having a one-goal advantage against a team like Cyprus is just not enough.

"Then we didn't use some good chances to get another goal. It was a bad day."

Chile 1 Haiti 0: Delgado scores first international goal

Chile wrapped up their two-game tour of the United States with a 1-0 victory over Haiti in Florida on Tuesday.

After playing out a goalless draw against Mexico in California on Saturday, Chile took to Lockhart Stadium midweek and accounted for Haiti on a landmark day for goalscorer Juan Delgado.

Earning just his second cap for Chile, the 21-year-old Colo Colo striker scored his first international goal in the 20th minute after tucking away a rebound from just outside the six-yard box.

Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli made five changes from the team that faced Mexico, with goalkeeper Claudio Bravo dropping out and star midfielder Arturo Vidal returning to Juventus after sustaining a thigh injury.

Gonzalo Jara, Eugenio Mena and Francisco Silva also made way as Johnny Herrera, Jose Rojas, Miiko Albornoz, Fabian Orellana and Delgado coming into the starting XI.

With 101 positions separating the two teams in the FIFA rankings, Chile were expected to make light work of Haiti, who were playing their first match since March.

Chile dictated the play from the outset and they should have taken the lead in the 15th minute but Alexis Sanchez wasted a gilt-edged opportunity.

The Arsenal man found himself unmarked in the penalty area and fluffed his effort over the crossbar.

Delgado spared his blushes five minutes later, when he converted a rebound into the net after goalkeeper Johnny Placide failed to deal with Mauricio Isla's powerful delivery across goal.

As the half wore on, Haiti began to provide more of a threat up front and they were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty six minutes before the break, though the referee waved away their protests.

Haiti almost drew level in the 58th minute through Kervens Belfort after his shot flashed just wide of the post.

The Caribbean country continued to enjoy the better opportunities in the second half, but without success as Chile held on for their first victory in four matches.