Spain’s Del Bosque reflects on the orthodox and crazier elements to playing Scotland
Wednesday 12 October 2011
After finishing European Championship Group I qualification with a perfect record, Spain Coach Vicente Del Bosque reflected on the 3-1 win over Scotland and his team’s chances next summer in Poland-Ukraine 2012.
La Roja won 3-1 on Tuesday night thanks to a double-strike from David Silva followed by David Villa’s 50th international goal that saw him become the country’s all-time leading goalscorer.
- Who do you think will be Spain’s biggest rival?
We have very strong rivals - England, Germany, Italy, France. There are very strong opponents in Europe and it will not be easy. Winning a competition like this will be very difficult.
- Jordi Alba had a big game
He has performed as expected of him. He played well, was attentive and sat well in defence and attack and provided an assist to score. A happy day for him and for all.
- What do you make of the game? What does it mean to qualify for the Euros?
There were two distinctly different parts, a more orthodox football and in the second half a more open, crazier game with more opportunities for the Scots.
- You have many options in midfield ahead of the Euros
We have many alternatives - on the one hand it is good for everyone because the seasons are very long and hopefully all will arrive in the best condition for the Euros.
- What do you think about the Scotland team? Do you see them at the World Cup of Brazil 2014?
Since we played them a year ago to today they have become a more stable team and I really enjoyed the other day in Liechtenstein. They could have been weighed by the 3-0 score-line or the heat but did not surrender.
- It has been a long time since la Seleccion last played in Alicante. What does it mean to be here?
The truth is we are happy to go anywhere in Spain. There is a climate of affection and support and Alicante is no different. The pitch was fine and everything was favourable for la Seleccion.
- Between the first and second goal there was a bit of relaxation
They were ordered - we searched the channels for penetration but with Villa and Pedroo [Rodriguez] we could not. In any case I think it was a match dominated by two parts as I said before.
- What happened with Xavi Hernandez?
He had some discomfort and preferred to opt for the change.
The original Spanish and full version of this interview conducted by Fabián Bouzas and Carlos Hierroand published on rfef.es can be found here.
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