Carlos Marchena confident of Spain's chances despite injuries
Spain prepares to take on Lithuania on Friday in the next round of Euro 2012 qualifying matches, and they will have to do so without a number of their regulars including Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres, Pedro, and Jesus Navas.
The reigning World Cup and European champions will likely miss the midfield presence of Xavi the most. The Barcelona midfielder has been instrumental in Spain's most recent international successes, and was even voted player of the tournament four years ago
when the European Championship was held in Austria and Switzerland.
Spanish international, and Villareal midfielder, Carlos Marchena was asked recently whether or not he felt that the Spanish side was overly dependent on a player like Xavi, which brought up the question of whether there was enough depth within the Spanish
squad to assure a victory on Friday night, which would get Spain one step closer to qualification.
"We hope not," he said. "Xavi is important in this side, but there are other teammates who can take on his role with calm and confidence. We hope to be prepared so that we don't notice any player being missing."
With certain key players missing, it will give head coach Vicente Del Bosque a chance to include other players in the lineup who might be seeking some extra international experience. The Spain side could well see Valencia and Villareal duos, Aritz Aduriz
and Pablo Hernandez, and Borja Valero and Bruno Soriano, added to the lineup.
Spain currently sit at third place in their group behind both Scotland and Lithuania, whom they play on October 8 and October 12 respectively, but Spain has played only one match, which was a 4-0 thrashing of Liechtenstein.
Spanish international and Atletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente summed up the importance of Spain's upcoming match by stating, "I think they are two very important games. Lithuania are an opponent who are going to keep it very tight, who are coming into
the game having beaten the Czech Republic and drawn with Scotland. We will have to be very attentive, because they can be dangerous on the counter-attack."
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