Spain Prepare for Turkey Clasy with Injury Problems

On Tuesday midday the Spanish national squad will come together in Madrid to prepare for the upcoming World Cup qualifying games against Turkey, with several injury problems.

Little Andres Iniesta, who was so important in Spain's Euro 2008 triumph, will miss both games against the Turks after pulling a muscle in his right thigh in Barcelona's 6-0 thrashing of Malaga on Sunday.



Iniesta will fly into Madrid with a note from Barca head doctor Ricard Pruna explaining his injury, and will then return to Barcelona to convalesce for two weeks.

National manager Vicente del Bosque now has to decide whether to replace Iniesta - the three candidates are Juan Mata of Valencia, Diego Capel of Sevilla and Angel Lafita of Deportivo Coruna - or whether to get by with a squad of 21.

Iniesta's Barca team-mate Xavi - voted most valuable player at Euro 2008 - suffered a badly bruised Achilles tendon in the Malaga game, but will probably stay with the Spain squad.

However, he might be doubtful for Saturday's home game against the Turks in Real Madrid's Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Two other Euro 2008 heroes doubtful for Saturday are the Valencia pair of David Villa and David Silva.

Villa has been out for three weeks with a twisted knee, Silva has been struggling with ankle problems all season.

Del Bosque has made an excellent start in the Spain job since taking over from Luis Aragones last July, winning all six of his matches and keeping 'La Roja' at the top of the FIFA world rankings.

He has resisted the tempatation to bring back Real Madrid captain Raul, despite the campaign of the Madrid sports papers to do so. He explained his decision to overlook Raul - who has not been called up since 2006 - by saying that 'I do not want to break up the spirit of this squad.'

Del Bosque said on Monday night that Turkey - who flew in to Madrid on Monday - is 'a strong team, with players who are aggressive, military, patriotic...and very hard.'

He singled out Villarreal star Nihat Kahveci and Betis midfielder Mehmet Aurelio for special praise.

Del Bosque was coach at Turkish giants Besiktas for seven months in the 2004/5 season. He said that it is 'a very welcoming country, with excellent food,' but that Besiktas were 'not very patient with me.'

Spain are top of qualifying group 5 with 12 points from four games, four points above Fatih Terim's team.

Source:

Duncan Shaw Mar 24, 2009

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