Pity the housekeeper of world football’s galaxy.
With just over a month to go to go before his team kicks-off in this summer’s European Championships, the Marques del Bosque otherwise known as Vicente may have a clear ambition to once again defend Spain’s crown , but he is faced with limited time to mould a team capable of helping him do so..
A heavy schedule of Champion’s League and national club Cup finals fixtures towards the end of May affect a range of clubs from which Del Bosque would like to pick the cream of the La Roja squad he will announce next Tuesday, giving the players involved little breathing space to recharge batteries and motivation for the tournament in France.
Among the players likely to have energy levels and general fitness put to the most severe of tests are the internationals who regularly play for FC Barcelona (Iniesta, Pique, Alba, Busquets, ) and Real Madrid (Carvajal, Ramos) . Not only is Barca reaching the end of a brusing campaign to try and win La Liga , with a must won final game if it is to hold off its historic rival, it is also in the final of the King’s Cup in Spain, while Real Madrid is in the Champion’s League final with city rivals Simeone’s Atletico de Madrid (JuanFran, Koke, Saul and Torres could all be called up by Del Bosque) .
Those likely to report late for La Roja duty include the Spanish internationals in Oporto (Casillas) , Bayern Munich (Javi Martinez, Thiago, Juan Bernat) , Juventus (Morata) , and Manchester United (David de Gea and Juan Mata).
More immediately available – were Del Boque inclined to want to pick them- are the likes of Silva, Pedro, Azpiluceta, Cesc Fabregas , Alcacer, Nolito, San Jose and Aduriz.
But absentees from La Roja’s final pre-tournament warm-up friendlies against Bosnia (29th May), and South Korea (June 1st) may include several potentially tired players, with those playing in the Champions’ League final in Milan not called up for duty with the Spanish squad till June 4th, just four days before it flies to France prior to its first game in Toulouse on June 13th against the Czec Republic.
Moreover there is always the risk of a player suffering an injury during the final stages of his club duties from which he may not recover from in the short term, as has happened to England’s Danny Welbeck.
And yet Del Bosque can still look on the bright side, celebrating the fact that he may still benefit rather than fall victim to Spain’s footballing success. However late they up for the team training, he counts on an array of talent unmatched by any other footballing nation. And If La Roja retains the championship in France this summer, he will make history. It will be the third time in succession La Roja wins the European Crown, twice under his tutelage. He won Spain the World Cup in 2010, before its errant debacle in Brazil in 2014 (aprtly b;amed on player tiredness and demotivation- so Spanish football is not short of incentives to prove it is unrivaled, as the best in the world.
