Spain want Torres to recover

Spanish national team coach Vicente del Bosque has urged Fernando Torres to delay his return from injury with Liverpool.

Del Bosque says he hopes Torres plays as little as possible for Liverpool before this summer’s World Cup. European champions Spain are amongst the favorites to take the Word Cup crown in July and 59-year-old Del Bosque insists his country’s chances would improve by Torres being kept out of action.

The comments could anger Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, who has seen his talisman play just 21 times this season.

He returned to training in midweek after recovering from a knee injury and has a realistic chance of facing Wigan on March 8.

But the last thing Benitez needs is Torres’ international manager trying to switch the forward’s focus to South Africa. The European champions’ World Cup hopes will be a secondary concern to Benitez.

Relations between Liverpool and several international managers are already strained given the number of players the club has lost to injury during qualifying campaigns.

And Del Bosque’s comments are especially provocative as Torres’ recent groin problems were first aggravated while playing for Spain.

Del Bosque said: “The fewer games Fernando plays for his club, the better it will be for us. We want him not to play too many games, to recover completely for the World Cup and have had some rest in between. We’d like him fresh for the tournament.”

“That can only be good news for Spain. We hope Liverpool’s loss will be our gain.”

“Fernando Torres represents a crucial part of our squad,” he added.