Vicente Del Bosque has revealed a little of his thinking on Spain’s World Cup squad, particularly with regards to Fernando Torres and Diego Costa.
The Coach was speaking to reporters after Spain’s 2-0 win over Bolivia on Friday evening, the goals coming from a Torres penalty and an Andres Iniesta curler.
Del Bosque said that he was pleased with the performance against the South Americans, as he had been pleased with training all week.
“We’ve shown we are good physically, after an intense season,” Del Bosque said, according to AS.
“We have gone from low to high. We played better in the second-half.”
Del Bosque will today name his 23-man squad to go to Brazil and indicated that Torres would be part of it.
“This game ends the first week after four training sessions. Training was for Torres and everyone else,” Del Bosque said.
“We have great confidence in him and that he’s here. We’re happy with how he has worked.”
Spain’s biggest concern is over Torres’ fellow forward, Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa.
No Atletico players were involved after their Champions League duties but Costa is currently injured regardless, having been substituted after nine minutes of the Champions League final a week ago.
“[Costa is] better but we already know about his muscle injury,” Del Bosque said.
“It’s understandable. The doctors are optimistic. We’ll consult over it [on Saturday].”
Del Bosque was less positive regarding Jesus Navas, the Manchester City winger who has been on the sidelines since April.
“Navas has performed well this week but the reality is that it’s been two months and he’s not played and I’d prefer a fully fit man,” he lamented.
“He’s not entirely ruled out, but it’s difficult.
“My heart sinks. He’s a guy who’s spent two months without playing. He’s almost perfect, but it’s two months without playing.
“We prefer to bring someone in a condition that we have no questions about.”
Del Bosque also confirmed that debutant Ander Iturraspe and Sevilla left-back Alberto Moreno were unlikely to make the final cut.
“Iturraspe and Moreno, unless something happens last minute, will not come,” he said.
“Juanfran has a problem, as does [Costa]. We’ll see what decision we make. We have enough resources to cover for Navas.”
