Guiza reveals tears over World Cup snub

Fenerbache striker Dani Guiza says he was reduced to tears when he learned he was left out of Spain’s 2010 World Cup squad which went on to win the tournament for the first time in the country’s history.

“I cried a lot. It is normal, they took away my childhood dream of playing for my country in a World Cup, the biggest dream for any Spanish footballer,” the 30-year-old said in an interview published in sports daily AS.

Guiza said he received a call from Spanish football federation sporting director Fernando Hierro in May half an hour before Spain coach Vicente del Bosque announced his 23-man World Cup squad to warn him that he was not on the list.

“The tears came out then and I didn’t know what to do. I had my bottles of champagne ready for when the list was published and they stayed there unopened.

“I have to forget it, work hard to recover from my recent surgery and have the opportunity to return to the Spanish squad,” he added.

Guiza, a fixture of the Spanish squad for much of the previous four years, was one of the major surprises left out of the squad.

He was part of the Spain squad that won Euro 2008 and had been included in every one of Del Bosque’s squad lists prior to the final official list released for the World Cup.

Guiza successfully underwent surgery in Spain earlier this month on his Achilles tendon which is expected to sideline him for two months.