Spanish Squad For A Friendly Against Mexico
The last few years have been good for the Spanish team, as their performances have brought them a lot of success. They are currently the World Champions, as well as the European Champions. Apart from that, they have quite a long streak of victories, while their latest streak has been of of six matches. Therefore, they have a reputation to protect as they go on against a resilient and young Mexican side.
Mexico had a good run in South Africa, until they were ousted by Argentina. However, they have the potential to create upsets. Therefore, Vicente Del Bosque is taking no risks as he announced his squad for the friendly against Mexico.
This time, as was the case with the World Cup final, seven players from Barcelona have been included in Spain’s squad. Although Barcelona was in Asia during this weekend, and they were hoping that their players would be excused from this fixture, Del Bosque has neglected the pleas of Barcelona and called the players to perform their 'international duty'. The only player missing from the World Cup’s squad is Andres Iniesta, who would miss out due to an injury.
Due to this International duty, life is going to be tough for Barcelona’s gang, as they would have to take a long flight to Mexico after spending a hectic week in China. After this fixture, they would have to hurry back to Spain for their first leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Sevilla. The players called for International duty are Victor Valdes, Carlos Puyol, Gerard Pique, Pedro, Xavi, David Villa and Sergio Busquets.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, have it easier, as they are already in USA for their pre-season tour. The players called for International duty are Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Iker Casillas.
Some other players from the World Cup winning squad would be missing for Spain's match. Jose Reina and Fernando Torres (of Liverpool FC) are not available because of their injuries. In the absence of Torres, the position would be covered by Pedro and Fernando Llorente.
Arsenal would have their worries, as Cesc Fabregas has been called for the fixture. Amidst all the speculations related to Fabregas’ transfer, this fixture might prove to be dreadful for Arsenal. Although things are relatively quiet for now, recently Xavi has made comments, once again, about the future of Arsenal’s midfielder, creating further turbulence in the matter.
In a friendly fixture, the coaches have the discretion to make as many substitutions as they want. Most of these players would be under a limitation imposed by their clubs, to play for a specific period only. Others would be troubled by fatigue and fitness issues, as they did not have much time to train or are coming back from a hectic pre-season week of football. In this case, Del Bosque would have an opportunity to play some new faces in the team, including Santi Cazorla and Juan Matta. Also, Victor Valdes and Iker Casillas would share the playing time as goalkeepers.
Even though this match is not as important as many of the other fixtures, Del Bosque wants to maintain a good impression after his success in South Africa. Therefore, he would not be taking any risks of resting big players; rather, he would give them a chance to score early and rest at a later period.
This friendly fixture of Spain was widely condemned because of its odd timing and place. All of these players are based in European leagues, and they will now have to travel to South America. Only Barcelona has spoken outwardly about such a move while others have kept quiet. The World Cup has already delayed the start of the new season, as players enjoyed a post World Cup holiday for almost three weeks.
The only thing that the club officials can hope for is that their players avoid injury. Therefore, the players will be instructed to keep themselves out of trouble and to avoid rash challenges. In this situation, players like to pass the ball more than often, which would make this match a boring affair.
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