Vicente Del Bosque rubbished suggestions there was a prior agreement to include Chelsea striker Diego Costa in the Spain squad to play England.
Costa has struggled for form in his second season at Stamford Bridge, mirroring his team’s poor record in defence of their Premier League title, but the Coach supported the naturalised Brazilian at his pre-match Press conference.
“He’s not here because of an imposition or because we have a moral obligation. He’s here because we have the firm opinion that he can be useful,” AS reports Del Bosque saying of Costa.
“When a team isn’t working out, the players are also accused. This year it’s not working for Chelsea and that’s what’s happening.”
Del Bosque added that he hasn’t made a decision on the XI to play Roy Hodgson’s side, but suggested lining up with two strikers, as has been practised in training, is a possibility.
“We’ve got an idea, but we’ll wait until training [on Thursday] to make the decision,” he confirmed.
“The strikers look good, we’ve trained for two days. They’re always happy to be with the national team. We can play with one or two.
“[David] De Gea or [Iker] Casillas? We’re fortunate that we have them both [and] Sergio Busquets has for a long time shown great consistency.”
Del Bosque also offered thoughts on Sergio Ramos, the Real Madrid defender who pulled out of the squad with a shoulder injury, and Gerard Pique, who is expected to receive his now-customary whistles when playing for the national team.
“If Ramos can’t play with us now, the important thing is he’s fine for his team and he’s good for June,” Del Bosque said.
“The whistles at Pique are a stream that’s impossible to stop. We’ve reached a point where it would be unusual if Pique wasn’t whistled. I think it’s best not to worry or talk about it.”
Del Bosque concluded with a comment about the opposition and also fielded a question regarding his own future on the Spain bench.
“England have a team with a very strong potential. They won all 10 qualifiers,” he pointed out.
“When they organise a little better, they’ll be a great team.
“I say, as usual, that we’ll see about my future. We’re thinking of Euro 2016. There’ll be time to think about the future after that.”
