Del Bosque relief as Silva and Villa spare Spanish blushes
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Spain boss Vicente del Bosque was a relieved man after his World and European Champions managed to reverse a two-goal deficit to salvage a 2-2 draw from Tuesday’s friendly with Costa Rica in San José.
First-half goals from Randall Brenes and Joel Campbell had given Jorgé Luis Pinto’s men an unlikely advantage in front of 35,000 spectators in the Estadio Nacional, but an 83rd minute David Silva strike and a last-gasp David Villa equaliser spared Spanish blushes.
All our players gave their all but the reasons we were losing at the break were footballing issues,” said Del Bosque. “Costa Rica defended very well and were successful. You can’t afford to think any team can be beaten easily; today Costa Rica showed they were a formidable opponent. You can never underestimate anybody,” he explained.
Asked whether he had said anything to his players in the dressing room at half-time, Del Bosque commented: “ I didn’t say anything to them. It was an uncomfortable situation but the changes made were planned beforehand. It wasn’t a question of blaming anyone.”
Speaking of the alterations he had made to his line-up following the 1-0 Wembley defeat to England at the weekend, he said: “There is not only one direction we can take. Everybody has an opinion but we have players who can play in any position and always do well.”
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