Vicente del Bosque insists players play better for their clubs after representing their national teams than vice versa ahead of Spain’s trip to Romania on Sunday.
The ‘FIFA virus’ – a term coined by the Spanish Press to describe the outbreak of injuries during international breaks – has prompted seven players from Barcelona and Real Madrid opt out of representing their countries this week, but the Coach saw the phenomena as a gross misconception.
“I have data and I can say that those who have been with the national team have generally then played better for their clubs, while those who didn’t play with the national team then had a worse performance than those who did,” he said at a Press conference.
“There’s evidence that playing for a national team doesn’t harm international players. Conversely, it benefits them.
“[On a perceived second team playing Romania], the fact there are players who play less for their clubs for various reasons doesn’t mean they will for the national team.
“For me, all 24 are good enough to start for Spain and thus I consider. We have not done that division ".
“What we want to do is play well against Romania and prepare for the European Championship against a very uncomfortable and defensively-strong team, with good qualities on the counterattack.
“I plan to give [Sergio] Rico his debut. We’ll see who the first-choice goalkeeper is, but what we have in mind is that Rico will make his debut because I want everyone in the squad to play.
“[Aritz] Aduriz gives the same [to Spain] as his club: quality, goals and enthusiasm. Plus, he’s adapted very well to our game.
“[On the Under-21s struggles], their result from the other night [a 3-0 defeat to Croatia] shouldn’t make us doubt them.
“They can all play for the senior team because they’re all either good or very good.
“It wasn’t an expected result, but it mustn’t make us doubt their quality.”
