Vicente del Bosque has reflected on why he didn’t replace Xabi Alonso with a midfielder and on the Spain squad’s hunger to win the Confederations Cup.
For the summer tournament out in Brazil, La Roja’s Coach has confirmed his final 23 selected and has determined that despite a long season, motivation will be no issue.
“We will try to reach the best physical and mental condition,” assessed Del Bosque to reporters today.
“They are very competitive players who are not satisfied with what happened during the season and they know that the participation of the Spanish team in the Confederations Cup is very important.
“I believe that the team is motivated to win. I spoke to one player the other day and he said ‘Mister, we really want to win’.
“This group is one with good intentions, as it cannot be otherwise, good athletes and we will try not to be in the competition until June 30, but to win it.”
Del Bosque pulled a surprise when cutting last week’s provisional 26-man squad down to a final 23, by choosing Roberto Soldado to replace the injured Xabi Alonso, when one of Benat Etxebarria and Javi Garcia were expected to come in.
“Xabi Alonso called me and said that he did not want to prejudice the team or another player who could go instead of him.
“Regarding Javi Garcia, as an option for midfield, or Benat, we believe that with the players we already have, we have enough midfielders to cover all circumstances that may arise throughout the competition.
“There would be many more players that have gone through this season and done enough to be with us, but it is impossible to bring them all.
“Surely if we had brought Negredo then those in Valencia would ask why we hadn’t picked Soldado.
“It is always very difficult to predict and to try and determine the best selection.”
