Diego Costa, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata have both been dropped out of Spain’s provisional
squad for their Euro 2016 campaign by Vicente del Bosque due to several reasons.
Costa has endured a below-par season with Chelsea despite finding the
net 16 times and after suffering a hamstring injury in Chelsea’s 1-1
draw with Liverpool earlier this month, Gus Hiddink admitted he was
unsure if the Brazil-born forward would recover in time for next month’s
tournament in France.
Del Bosque, speaking at the announcement of his squad, confirmed he
was not prepared to risk Costa, who scored just one goal in qualifying,
or Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla, who made his return from a long-term knee
injury for Arsenal on Sunday.
“We have weighed everything up,” Del Bosque was quoted as saying by
ESPN. “We do not want to call up too many people with doubts over their
fitness. The Cazorla situation is very like Diego’s – he has been out
five months, made a great effort to be ready, but we can’t have many
doubts.”
Mata meanwhile has paid the price for a recent dip in form for
Manchester United, who have effectively missed out on a place in the top
four, while Del Bosque’s decision to omit Torres, whose form has
improved in Atlético Madrid’s run to the Champions League final, leaves Spain looking light in attack
Paco Alcácer, Spain’s highest scorer in qualifying with five goals,
also misses out in favour of Atlético’s uncapped forward Saúl Ñíguez,
the 35-year-old Aritz Aduriz, Nolito, Juventus’ Álvaro Morata and Real
Madrid’s Lucas Vázquez, who is also yet to make an appearance for the
national side.
While Costa has been omitted, his Chelsea team-mates César
Azpilicueta, Pedro and Cesc Fàbregas have been included along with the
Manchester City playmaker David Silva and Manchester United’s goalkeeper David de Gea.
List of Spain’s provisional squad for Euro 2016
Iker Casillas, David de Gea, Sergio Rico, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Piqué,
Dani Carvajal, Jordi Alba, Marc Bartra, César Azpilicueta, Mikel San
José, Juanfran, Bruno, Sergio Busquets, Koke, Thiago, Andrés Iniesta,
Isco, David Silva, Pedro, Cesc Fàbregas, Saúl Ñíguez, Aritz Aduriz,
Nolito, Álvaro Morata, Lucas Vázquez.
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