International football’s perennial underachievers Spain are in defiant mood ahead of their Euro 2008 Group D opener against Russia in Innsbruck on Tuesday.
They have some injury concerns over strikers Torres, Villa and Sergio Garcia
INNSBRUCK: International football’s perennial underachievers Spain are in defiant mood ahead of their Euro 2008 Group D opener against Russia in Innsbruck on Tuesday. The talented Spaniards have learnt themselves a reputation as chokers and mentally brittle over the years after flattering to deceive time and again on the biggest stage.
But their players have been firing back with fighting talk this week and are in determined mood ahead of their clash against the unfancied Russians.
Mallorca striker Daniel Guiza insisted the team is paying no attention to their critics. “I don’t care what people are saying. We have to stay calm and not listen to these commentaries,” he said. They have possibly the most talented midfield and attacking combination in the tournament with players such as Fernando Torres, David Villa, Cesc Fabregas and Barcelona pair Xavi and Andres Iniesta to call upon.
Spain have some injury concerns over strikers Torres, Villa and Sergio Garcia while Iniesta recently went down with food poisoning but coach Luis Aragones is expecting everyone to be fit for the Russia match. It appears that Aragones is veering towards leaving Fabregas on the sidelines as he does not believe that the Arsenal star - who has yet to score in 26 internationals - has had enough match practice of late. “You can’t dispute his quality but the problem is that he has gone 30 days without a game,” said the 69-year-old.
Russia looked to have a good chance of creating a surprise till losing star striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, who has been ruled out of the whole tournament with a knee injury. The Zenit St Petersburg forward, who finished this season’s UEFA Cup campaign as joint top scorer with Italy’s Luca Toni with 10 goals, will be replaced by Samara midfielder Oleg Ivanov.
Pogrebnyak twisted his left knee in a warm-up match against Serbia in late May and his loss is a big blow for a side already missing another outstanding Zenit striker Andrei Arshavin, who is suspended, against Spain.
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