Spain captain Iker Casillas believes his side have earned the right to fail ahead of this summer’s World Cup in Brazil.
La Roja are the defending world champions, while they have also won both European Championship tournaments played in the last six years.
Speaking at a publicity event, the Real Madrid goalkeeper discussed the Vicente Del Bosque’s team’s prospects in a group also containing Holland, Chile and Australia. Despite their prominence among the favourites for the tournament once again, the 33-year-old believes Spain should approach their campaign without any pressure.
“We have a difficult group,” Casillas told reporters. “In addition, our first two matches are against the teams who, in theory, we will be vying for qualification with.
“We also start against Holland, who should be the other big favourites along with us. However, I think that having to start strong gives us motivation. It means that the team must he the right mindset from the first day.
“If we get one positive result out of the first two matches, it would be a very important morale boost in order for us to continue growing in the competition.
“I think we need to go to Brazil without any pressure. In these last six years we haven’t done good things, we have done sensational things. We have earned the right to fail.
“We are going with the idea of competing and defending our title, but we know that there are 31 other teams who want to do the same and it won’t be easy.
“From what I hear from people, I think the Spanish fans are delighted with the last six years they have seen. The majority thought they would never see anything like it.”
