Confederation Cup: Spain names killer squad for Eagles

World Champions, Spain, has listed Barcelona midfielder, Andres Iniesta, Chelsea’s pointman, Fernando Torres, and other 24 top players to battle the Super Eagles when the Confederation Cup kicks off in Brazil.
Though Spain’s Coach, Vicente del Bosque, is expected to cut his squad down by three once he knows who has avoided injury in the final round of La Liga fixtures, and is ready for the tournament in Brazil.
Captain Iker Casillas returns to the squad, having not been involved for the World Cup qualifiers against France and Finland due to injury.
The experienced Real Madrid goalkeeper replaces Manchester United’s David De Gea, who will be with the Under-21 team for the European Championships in Israel.
Del Bosque explained the reasoning for naming more players than he needs for the tournament: it was down to fitness levels after a long season.
“The criteria is choosing the players who will best fit to help us during the competition, that’s it,” he said. “It is based on sporting reasons, nothing else. It’s impossible to bring everyone.
“It is almost impossible for the players to be completely fresh at the end of such a tough season. They’re going to be tired.
“It has been a very intense Spanish season, but we believe that our players are physically superb and are capable of playing for this extra amount of time for the Confederation Cup.”
Del Bosque has also recalled Chelsea striker, Fernando Torres, who impressed at Stamford Bridge towards the end of the season under the leadership of Rafael Benitez.
The 29-year-old has found the net 23 times for his club in 2012-13, including the opening goal in the UEFA Europa League final against Benfica, and has replaced Malaga play maker, Isco, in the Spain squad.
Spain’s third-place finish in 2009 was their first appearance in the Confederation Cup, but Del Bosque insists that the current World and European Champions are keen to improve on that in Brazil.
“For us it is a very important competition, the Confederation Cup,” he added. “As it pits the champions from the various competitions against each other.
“There are four world champions, but as well as them there are also three other teams that deserve a lot of respect: Japan, the Olympic Champions, Mexico and Nigeria, who won the African Cup of Nations, and Haiti, which is a little bit of an unknown entity for us.
“It is a tournament, a competition, a cup with a lot a quality competing and we, as the European and World champions, intend to give it the respect that it deserves.”