Vicente Del Bosque had a special message for his Spain players after landing in Georgia ahead of their World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.
“The Brazil World Cup does not begin in 2014. It starts now against Georgia in Tbilisi,” Del Bosque told a Press conference.
“To defend the trophy we won in Johannesburg we must qualify for Brazil.
“The players know that a hard qualification phase is now starting and we need to be committed because if we are careless then that could be a problem.”
Spain are in a group that also contains Belarus, France and Finland, with some members of the squad, including Iker Casillas, Fernando Torres and Xavi Hernandez, believing qualification should have been automatic as reigning champions.
However, Del Bosque was more diplomatic and feels it is something that must be put to one side.
“We can’t give it any thought because it is what it is. We must forget about what the rules should or shouldn’t be and just focus on what lies ahead,” he commented.
