Del Bosque dubs Czechs as chief rivals

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque has challenged his players to keep their focus against a dangerous Czech Republic side.

The reigning world and European champions are unbeaten in Euro 2012 qualifying with three wins from as many games, but Del Bosque is wary of their run coming to an end on Friday.Del Bosque believes the Group I clash in Grenada could be coming at a bad time for many of his players, who are pre-occupied with league and European pursuits.”They are our biggest threat,” Del Bosque said. “They have great physical and technical qualities. They are very strong and have been one of the best teams in Europe in recent years.””The worry for us is that most of our players are involved in domestic and European campaigns with their clubs and will continue to be so until the end of the season.””We need to go into Friday’s game with the right mentality because if any one of us is switched off, it could really complicate things.”Chelsea striker Fernando Torres is confident he and his countrymen will get the job done, despite the absence of Arsenal talisman Cesc Fabregas and Barcelona team-mates Carles Puyol and Pedro Rodriguez due to injury.”The difficult thing in football for national teams is learning to win,” Torres told El Mundo Deportivo.”Spain did after many years of disappointments. There is now another challenge to retain the European Championship, something that nobody has ever done before.”Czech coach Michal Bilek is adamant his side are capable of shocking Spain at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes, despite the nation having scored just three goals – two of which came against minnows Liechtenstein – in three qualifiers so far.”Spain are favourites but they also make mistakes,” Bilek said. “We must stop midfielders (Andres) Iniesta and Xavi (Hernandez) and their upfield passes; that is crucial.”The coach also hailed the return of Galatasaray striker Milan Baros to the squad, saying: “His club are not in the best shape but I am sure he will be very useful.”