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Group D
Team Pl Pts
Spain 3 9
Russia 3 6
Sweden 3 3
Greece 3 0

Del Bosque checks on youngsters

Spain boss hands call-ups to Mata and Llorente

  • Mata: First inclusion

    Mata: First inclusion

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Players

Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will use an upcoming friendly against Chile to experiment with his squad.

Valencia's promising playmaker Juan Mata and Athletic Bilbao's Fernando Llorente will both be given an opportunity to impress for the first time after their inclusion in a youthful set-up.

Mata is a product of the famed Real Madrid academy while Llorente is a powerful striker who possesses all the physical attributes required to be a success on the international stage.

With established stars such as Andres Iniesta missing through injury and Andoni Iraola, Fernando Navarro and Diego Capel all omitted, Del Bosque is delighted to have been handed an opportunity to run the rule over his promising youngsters.

"We want to take this chance to have a closer look at (Mata). He is a player that is in good form, an U21 player, and we think that this is a good time to move him up," the experienced coach told Marca.

Llorente's inclusion is regarded as more of a surprise than Mata's, but Del Bosque revealed that he wants to have a number of tactical options available to him.

Cover

"There were several options and I have chosen him because he is also playing well," he continued.

"We have plenty of cover, but both (Fernando) Torres and (Dani) Guiza have had knocks recently so we thought Llorente would give us something extra.

"Besides he deserves it for having such a good season and he will give us an alternative to try."

Del Bosque was also keen to explain that he does not intend to rush Torres back into action too soon as the Liverpool man has only recently recovered from a knock sustained while on international duty.

"We have to take care of Torres," he added.

"We are not going to force anyone to come and make them play when they are not fit. He played for Liverpool this week and therefore could have joined us, but we want to ensure that nothing happens."

Full Spain squad for their friendly date with Chile on Wednesday 19th November:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Jose Reina (Liverpool).

Defenders: Raul Albiol (Valencia), Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Juanito (Real Betis), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Xavi (Barcelona), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia), Albert Riera (Liverpool), Marcos Senna (Villarreal).

Forwards: Dani Guiza (Fenerbahce), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia).

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