Vicente del Bosque pronounced himself satisfied and his side confident following Spain’s routine friendly wins on American soil against Haiti and Republic of Ireland ahead of their opening Confederations Cup match against Uruguay. The tournament gets under way in Brazil this weekend.
Del Bosque said his players were ‘in confident mood’ about their chances in the eight-team tournament in South America and there is no doubt that a win there after a disappointing third-placed finish in 2009 would be a welcome boost on the road to the contest in Brazil that really counts, next summer’s World Cup finals.
But with crucial World Cup qualifiers ahead in the autumn against Finland, Belarus and Georgia and with players unrested after the domestic season, it is difficult to view the Confederations Cup, and consequently its outcome, as much more than a friendly competition.
“We have achieved our objectives,” said Del Bosque, reflecting on the wins over Haiti and Ireland. “There were no injuries while a good atmosphere within the group has been created. We’ve also advanced physically. We are better now than when we arrived.”
Aside from an opportunity to examine his players in some form of competitive setting, the Coach is likely to be happy if, irrespective of results, the Confederations Cup does nothing more than advance those objectives a little further on the road to next summer. The presence of Uruguay, Italy and hosts Brazil will, however, provide a more stringent test for Del Bosque’s men.
Javi Martinez, outstanding for Bayern Munich, Santi Cazorla, so effective for Arsenal, and Chelsea’s Juan Mata, on target against Ireland, have the makings of an alternative Spanish midfield and it will be interesting to see if and how Del Bosque shuffles his pack to explore the range of options he has within a squad awash with talent.
The inclusion of David Villa, Fernando Torres and Roberto Soldado in his squad is evidence that, while the Coach remains open to deploying his ‘false 9’ strategy with Cesc Fabregas as the surrogate front man, he has the ability to switch to a more orthodox attacking formation if he chooses to do so.
The Confederations Cup could offer Soldado, scorer of Spain’s second goal against Ireland and the second highest Spanish-national scorer in La Liga this season, an opportunity to take advantage of Alvaro Negredo’s omission and cement his place in the Spain line-up after just a handful of appearances on the periphery.
The Valencia striker netted 34 times in 51 games for both club and country last season including 24 goals in 35 Primera appearances for Los Che. Like Torres, Soldado has been sufficiently impressive for his club to warrant consideration among La Seleccion, but in contrast to Torres and the injury-plagued Villa, Soldado’s star is in the ascendancy. If he is on song in the Brazilian mini-tournament, he could provide Del Bosque with the kind of selection headache Coaches like to have.
