The 23 men who will win the World Cup for Spain
Vicente del Bosque confirmed his final selection of the 23 men who will travel to South Africa on Thursday afternoon in which he named the Barcelona duo of Pedro and Victor Valdes who have never won a cap for Spain, along with Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez. All five Madridistas who made the preliminary squad have made the cut.
Valdes joins the squad as third-choice goalkeeper, behind Iker Casillas and Pepe Reina, having edged in front of Diego Lopez and David De Gea in Del Bosque’s plans. Pedro, 22, is also included after scoring 22 goals in all competitions for Barcelona this season and the forward joins Jesus Navas, Juan Manuel Mata, Fernando Llorente, Fernando Torres and David Villa in Del Bosque’s attacking ranks.
Torres and Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas have both been named in the squad despite nursing injuries that prevented them from featuring at the conclusion of the Premier League season.
The coach was forced to cut seven players and most notable among those was midfielder Marcos Senna, who played a key role in the country’s success at Euro 2008. Fellow Villarreal star Santi Cazorla and Fenerbahce striker Dani Guiza also miss out despite their participation at Austria and Switzerland. Osasuna defender Cesar Azpilicueta and Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo make up the remainder of the seven players that have been culled from Del Bosque’s preliminary squad.
Just another Madridista
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