Injury Worries for Vicente Del Bosque
No team in the history of the Football World Cup has been regarded clear favorites to win than the current Spanish National side. There were times in history when teams like Hungry, West Germany and Brazil were predicted by pundits to conquer the Cup, and likewise this time no other name except that of Spain’s pops up in the mind of experts worldwide. The time is ripe and the team is playing their best soccer at the moment. After their win in the Euro 2008, the Spanish team went on an unbeaten run to the World Cup finals. The only scare came when they lost the semi-final in the Confederations Cup against a meager opponent, USA.
The major problem is the unsettlement of players due to the drama in the transfer window of different clubs, which would ultimately lead a player to lose his focus from the big games and clashes. The mental strength of a player is always important to a coach, as on most of the occasions, the positive mentality of a team is the only difference between a winning and losing side.
But this loss of concentration can be correlated with the injuries of the players. Right now, the biggest worry for Del Bosque would be the physical fitness of Francesc Fabregas, who has been out for quite some time now because of an injury. The real problem is that due to all the transfer drama the player is losing his focus as well. This means that his concentration in his rehabilitation is also under threat, which would only worsen the situation and prolong his healing process. The same situation is being faced by Fernando Torres, who has been out for a long time now and has perhaps started to forget the taste of real football matches. Although he has restarted light training and is expected to be on the field for the first clash on 16th of June, but the transfer worries and his reluctance to stay at his present club might cause him to take more time to make his full return to the team. Now, if we look at the Spanish side, the only possible replacement of Torres is Fernando Llorente, a striker from Athletic Bilbao. Although he is good, but he is perhaps not good enough, as he does not possess the spark to play and score in the biggest of the clashes. Here, we should remember that in the absence of David Villa, Torres was the one to score an outstanding goal in the final of Europe to clinch victory for his team. Thus, the loss of Torres would perhaps be too much to be compensated by any other player in the squad.
Although these are the only injuries that are troubling the Spanish coach at this particular moment, other players are also very much prone to short-term and long-term injuries, as is evident historically. The loss of the Confederation Cup can be associated to injuries to some key players in the squad. During the previous season, Andrés Iniesta has also shown that he is prone to a lot of injuries, which also caused him to miss a key clash against Inter Milan in the Champions League Semi-finals. Similarly, Marcos Senna, a key player in Spain’s Euro Cup victory, would be missing out on the action because of injury troubles. Therefore, although it seems that La Furia Roja (‘The Red Fury’, Spain Football Team’s nickname) are the clear favorites to emerge as the football champions in the FIFA World Cup, but, it would not come as a surprise if they fail to achieve this goal. It is a rocky road ahead for Vicente Del Bosque before the final showdown, and he has to work very hard with his team, and sometimes with the individual players, to make sure that nothing would upset the chances of his team’s victory.
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