views
Madrid: Spain defender Joan Capdevila is counting on the team's recent trip to Austria for inspiration to win the World Cup.
Spain won the European Championship in Austria in 2008, and the team trained in the Alpine country to prepare for the World Cup in South Africa.
"We found that spirit a little," Capdevila said on Sunday. "Two years ago it brought us luck, so let's see if it can do it again. Let's see if it can be our talisman."
Spain beat Germany 1-0 in Vienna to win the European trophy 44 years after its last major triumph.
Spain, one of the favorites going into the tournament, beat Saudi Arabia and South Korea in friendlies played in Innsbruck last week to make it 24 wins in 25 games under coach Vicente del Bosque.
Also, Capdevila doesn't think England, the Netherlands, Germany or the Ivory Coast's chances at the World Cup will be hurt because of injuries to key players.
England is without captain Rio Ferdinand and Germany is missing Michael Ballack, while Ivory Coast could be without striker Didier Drogba and the Netherlands may be without Arjen Robben.
"Every injury hurts you since these are players that want to participate, to be there, to play and help their teams. They are the stars of their sides," Capdevila said from the Las Rozas training ground in Madrid. "But you don't lose the World Cup because of one injury."
Spain has its own injury worry. Defender Gerard Pique took a knock on his right knee in training on Sunday, but the Barcelona player continued to practice after being examined by team doctors.
As for some of the other favorites, Spain's players didn't expect recent losses by Italy and France to hurt their chances.
"They always respond," Capdevila said. "Historically, we know they'll be among the contenders."
Spain was preparing Sunday for its final warmup match against Poland on Tuesday, when striker Fernando Torres is expected to play for the first time since undergoing surgery on his right knee in April.
The team arrives in South Africa on Friday with its opening match against Switzerland on June 16. Spain also faces Honduras and Chile in Group H.
"We're going with ambition to achieve something great," Spain forward Pedro Rodriguez said.
Comments
0 comment