Del Bosque denies friction with Benitez

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has denied that there is any friction with Rafael Benitez regarding the treatment of Fernando Torres.

The Liverpool striker will be a key member of del Bosque’s squad at the 2010 World Cup, but has been sidelined for much of this season with a knee injury.

He returned after a six-week lay-off against Manchester City on Sunday and is expected to be included in del Bosque’s squad to play France on March 3.

“There’s no truth in the fact that Benitez has complained – we have great relations with Liverpool,” said the coach at FIFA’s Team Workshop here.

“We just want to take care of the player like his club does and make sure he arrives at the World Cup fully fit.”

The former Real Madrid boss also stated that he hopes rumours linking Cesc Fabregas with a return to Barcelona at the end of the season would be put on hold until the end of the World Cup.

He said: “I just hope that nothing happens during the World Cup because we want him to concentrate on playing and not a transfer.”

Del Bosque led Spain to a record-breaking 35 matches unbeaten before that run was ended by the United States in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup last year.

The coach admitted that they had learnt from their mistakes and was confident they would benefit from the experience.

“Last time was a good experience to come here and get used to our surroundings and the climate,” he said.

“The players learnt a lot and I think that will give us an advantage. The World Cup will be a momentous occasion for Africa and it will be a great experience for everyone.”

Another concern for Spain is the number of their squad who could be involved the latter stages of this season’s Champions League.

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla are all in the last 16 and despite Real’s 1-0 defeat to Lyon last week, del Bosque revealed that he hoped all three could progress further.

“It’s good for Spanish football if they all do well and it doesn’t really worry me about the World Cup because they will have time to recover,” he said.

“I hope that two of our teams do get to the final because it will mean they are ready to play at the top level for their country.”

But while his England counterpart Fabio Capello was bombarded with journalists’ questions, the two times Champions League winner was largely ignored.

Del Bosque was asked whether the furore surrounding the sacking of John Terry as captain would harm their chances of rivalling his team for the title.

He said: “England are one of the favourites and they always will be. Every coach has an opinion and they do what they think is right. I’d prefer to talk about football.”