Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 9y

Diego Costa to play for Spain despite Jose Mourinho wishes

Diego Costa says he does not want to get caught up in a "club v country war," but has apparently defied Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho by declaring himself fit to be named in Spain's squad for their upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg.

Brazil-born Costa, 25, has had a stop-start beginning to his international career with his adopted country, and pulled out of La Roja's most recent qualifier against Macedonia with a hamstring problem, having again disappointed in their 1-0 friendly loss against France a few days earlier.

Mourinho has continued to field his 32 million-pound summer signing despite the long-running injury issue -- with Costa scoring eight goals in his first six Premier League games -- but the Blues boss suggested last week that the player needed to use the next international break to recover properly.

Asked after Tuesday's 1-0 Champions League Group G win at Sporting Lisbon whether he feared a "war" could break out between Mourinho and Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, the Brazil-born striker told Marca that he thought that unlikely, saying he would prefer a relaxed atmosphere in which to play for both teams.

"I do not believe that could happen," Costa said. "I have already had enough with the issue about Brazil. Now I must stay relaxed to be able to work and do things well, with the national team too."

After completing the full game at the Estadio Jose Alvalade without any apparent problems, the former Atletico Madrid striker said he felt he was fit enough to join up with his international colleagues.

"I hope I am okay to go with Spain," Costa said. "If I played 90 minutes it is clear that I am fine, I am feeling better all the time, and it is the boss' decision [del Bosque]."

Costa did however admit to doing special training throughout the week to ensure the hamstring problem, which hampered him regularly through the final stages of the 2013-14 campaign, was finally overcome completely.

"During the week I am working in an intensive way with the physios, because I have some issues from a while back," he said.

Del Bosque is expected to also include in-form Valencia centre-forward Paco Alcacer when he names his squad on Friday. Alcacer scored on his full debut in the 5-1 win over Macedonia, while Costa has not found the target for Spain in any of his first five caps.

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