Del Bosque: We think Costa is fit

Vicente Del Bosque has said he wouldn’t have named Diego Costa in the latest Spain squad if he didn’t think the Chelsea striker was fit.

Blues manager Jose Mourinho suggested Costa should be left out of the Euro 2016 qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg to rest a persistent injury but Del Bosque has named Costa in his 23-man squad.

“If we call him up it’s because we think he is fit,” Del Bosque told a Press conference, AS reports.

“If he was in a bad condition we wouldn’t force him, and that’s now we have always been with players.

“We always have in mind the physical state of the players. We always get the approval of the medical staff.”

Del Bosque also explained his reasons for including Valencia forward Rodrigo Moreno but not Munir El Haddadi or Fernando Llorente.

“We opted for Munir after Costa’s injury and he wasn’t in the initial group last time,” Del Bosque explained.

“Now we see him as one of the Under-21s, where, like the rest, he can be with us at any time. But keep in mind, the Under-21s also have a qualifying game.

“I don’t want to get into why Llorente wasn’t called, or anyone else. It’s a matter of who we trusted and we believe we’ve called up the best. But anyone can be called.”

Del Bosque added that Rodrigo – and Bayern Munich’s former Valencia full-back Juan Bernat – were included in part for their versatility.

“They’re performances have been very good when they came through the Under-21s,” he continued.

“With Bernat we considered that he can play at the back or up front, on the left. Rodrigo has also played for Valencia on the right wing or as a second striker.

“These are players for next year’s national team.”

Tags Chelsea Diego Costa Spain Vicente Del Bosque
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