Spain coach confident despite injury concerns

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said on Tuesday he was confident his squad would go to the World Cup in good shape despite fitness doubts over stars such as Liverpool forward Fernando Torres.

“There’s still a month and a half to go before we get to work and I think there is time for pretty much everyone to be fine,” said the former Real Madrid coach, who added that injuries were “part and parcel of things for this stage of the season. I think almost everyone will get there in good shape.”

But he added that “we can’t go with five or six men in cotton wool” and so “should someone not make it, there are some great guys waiting in the wings”.

On Monday Torres said he felt sure he would recover from knee surgery in time for the World Cup finals in South Africa.

“The World Cup is the most important thing right now. It has been four years of waiting and if the schedule for my recovery goes according to plan I do not plan to miss it,” the 26-year-old wrote on his official website, following surgery on a torn cartilage in his right knee in Barcelona on Sunday.

Torres, whose goal in the 2008 European Championship final against Germany won the tournament for Spain, is set to be out of action for around six weeks.

Fellow current walking wounded include Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, Barcelona playmaker Andres Iniesta and Brazilian-born Villarreal holding midfielder Marcos Senna.