Juan Mata wants Olympic gold

Juan Mata says Spain will be going all out for the gold medal when they compete at the London Olympics this summer.

The Chelsea midfielder was speaking at a lunch organised by the Spanish Olympic Committee in Madrid on Thursday, the day after Luis Milla’s team beat Mexico 1-0 in Cadiz in their final warm-up match before travelling to the United Kingdom.

“We will be going there to win the gold medal and will try to make it a perfect summer,” said Mata, who was part of Spain’s triumphant Euro 2012 squad in Poland and Ukraine and also a member of the Chelsea team that won the Champions League with victory over Bayern Munich.

“There are other strong teams in the competition, with squads capable of success, and although we are not putting ourselves under pressure we know there is great expectation.”

Asked about comparisons between Vicente Del Bosque’s national side and Milla’s Olympic team, Mata said they ‘shared the same football philosophy’, whilst also commenting on the Ballon d’Or award.

“I would like a Spaniard such as Xavi [Hernandez], [Andres] Iniesta or [Iker] Casillas to win it as it would reflect on how good Spanish football is at the moment,” he said.

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