Competition for Euro 2012 places puts Torres on trial

Published on Friday 7 October 2011 01:56

WITH a ticket for the 2012 European Championship already secured, defending champions Spain can afford to focus on striker Fernando Torres to help him rediscover his firepower in a qualifying match away to the Czech Republic tonight.

Spain have qualified for next year’s tournament in Poland and Ukraine with a perfect record of six victories from six games and are leading Group I with 18 points. The game could give Torres a chance to break a year-long scoring drought with the national team. His last goals for Spain came on 3 September last year when he scored a double in a 4-0 win over Liechtenstein in the opening Euro 2012 qualifier.

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque has made it clear that Torres will need to show improvement soon.

“In the case of Torres, he changed clubs and he’s been on a not very positive run,” Del Bosque said.

“We still believe in him, but there are others that are pressing hard for their shot, so we have to be fair.”

Del Bosque left Torres in the stand for the first time during Spain’s 6-0 rout of Liechtenstein last month, but Torres’ recent improvement at Chelsea may earn him game time.

After arriving in Prague yesterday, Del Bosque would not be drawn on whether Torres would get a chance in the match at Sparta Prague’s stadium.

“Every player has a chance to be in the starting line-up,” Del Bosque said. “Everyone is ready to play.”

Another striker, Alvaro Negredo of Sevilla, has left the team as doctors fear he could re-injure his left thigh muscle if he plays. Del Bosque will not replace him.

Spain are also without injured midfielders Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas.

“We’ve come to win here and we’ll do all we can for it,” Spain captain Iker Casillas said.

Czech Republic coach Michal Bilek has selection worries in midfield because Jaroslav Plasil of Bordeaux, who scored the only goal for the Czechs in a 2-1 loss to Spain in March, is suspended. His replacement, Marek Matejovsky of Sparta Prague, has a groin problem.

Captain Tomas Rosicky was not available for Arsenal’s 2-1 loss at Tottenham on Sunday after his partner Radka Kocurova lost their unborn baby five months into her pregnancy but the playmaker has joined the Czech squad this week and will play.

“It’s a huge motivation for us to succeed,” Rosicky said. “We’ll try to surprise them.”

To advance to the play-offs, a point from the match against Spain would be precious but the Czechs, who have been struggling since the previous 2008 European Championship, know it is a difficult task to achieve against the world and European champions.

“We know who we face,” defender Michal Kadlec said. “We can hardly play a stronger opponent at the moment. They have qualified but we can’t expect them to travel here to lose.”

Goalkeeper Petr Cech said to play in front of the home crowd can make a difference.

“I hope that our fans will come to support us,” the Chelsea player said. “We will need that.”