Vicente del Bosque insists cutting his preliminary Spain squad down to 23 was difficult but has a group ‘perfectly covered’ for Euro 2016.
Isco and Saul Niguez were the two players left out of the initial 25-man group, with Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin included after Dani Carvajal’s injury, and after confirming the roster for France, explained the thinking behind the decisions.
“I’ve stayed with the 19 we had in training and only had to pick four more. Carvajal’s injury is regrettable. I had to leave two out, and a decision had to be made because we had 25. Everyone on the list was there for a reason that we value. This is our responsibility. There are more players that could have been here,” he noted, AS reports.
“We had to balance the squad in case of emergency and seeking different solutions. I think all our needs are perfectly covered with this 23. These are the players we preferred to choose. I haven’t spoken personally to the ones left out. Everyone wanted to be there but we could only take 23.
“Bellerin over Mario Gaspar? Bellerin is a player for the future and the present. I knew I could call someone from the standby list at any moment and that’s the case with Bellerin. There couldn’t be any exceptions. Saul, Isco, Mario, [Santi] Cazorla, [Juan] Mata and others who didn’t come…I don’t regret the decision for some more than others.”
