Madrid: The Spanish national team continued to prepare for their World Cup defence without Diego Costa at the headquarters of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in Las Rozas, just outside of Madrid. Spain will travel to Seville Thursday, and Friday they play Bolivia in the first of their warm-up matches to prepare for the World Cup, reports Xinhua. After the Bolivia game, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque will name his definitive squad of 23 players before Spain jet out to Washington DC, June 2, for another preparatory camp.
Spain will take on El Salvador in Washington June 7 in what will be their last preparation match before moving on to Brazil. They kick-off against The Netherlands, June 13.The Bolivia match will not involve any players from either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid, meaning El Salvador will be the only time Del Bosque will be able to test his theoretical starting 11 for the World Cup defence.
Meanwhile the RFEF have confirmed that striker Costa will undergo treatment from their doctors in order to try and get the Atletico Madrid striker fit for the World Cup.Costa, who limped out of Saturday’s Champions League final after just nine minutes with a recurrence of his hamstring problem, has been diagnosed with a muscle tear which needs two weeks rest.
That means that in theory he will not be able to train until three days before Spain’s opening match, given that Del Bosque commented Sunday that he would not take any player who was unable to take part in full training June 2.
