Narrow defeat for Benatia and Morocco

Morocco captain Mehdi Benatia led from the front with a great display for his national team on Saturday evening but the FCB centre-back and his team still fell narrowly to South American powerhouses Uruguay. The home side had the better of the friendly, watched by a 39,912 crowd in Agadir, but the visitors netted the only goal of the game when Edison Cavani put away a 50th-minite penalty. Benatia played the full 90 minutes.

Badstuber out of Georgia qualifier

Germany will be without Holger Badstuber in Sunday evening’s EURO 2016 qualifier against Georgia. The FCB defender made a long-awaited comeback for his country in a 2-2 friendly draw with Australia in Kaiserslautern last Wednesday but injured a hip in the course of the first half. Badstuber and flu victim Karim Bellarabi of Leverkusen have not flown to Tibilisi as a precaution, Germany assistant coach Thomas Schneider announced. Manuel Neuer missed the draw with the Socceroos due to a swollen knee but is “definitely fit again,” head coach Joachim Löw reported. “He’ll be in goal on Sunday.”