Torres: Spain must forget Dutch disaster

Spain striker Fernando Torres said he and his team-mates must put their loss to the Netherlands behind them.

The FIFA World Cup holders are in grave danger of bowing out at the group stages in Brazil, after a 5-1 shellacking from the Dutch in their 2010 final rematch on Friday.

Vicente del Bosque’s men face Chile in a virtual must-win clash in Rio de Janeiro, and Chelsea striker Torres said they must banish the memory of their Dutch disaster if they are to bounce back in Group B.

“It is not easy to defend a World Cup title, we have to forget the first match and think that in a similar situation we have done our best and we have gone on,” Torres said.

“We need to remain in a positive way, feeling the support of the people from Spain and the pressure is the same for all the squad.

“We won (the 2010 World Cup) as a group and if we have to lose we will do it as a group or if we have to win again as we did before we will do it as a group of 23 and the coaching staff, not just one or two players.”

Del Bosque conceded his charges were ‘hurt’ by the thrashing, but said he is tipping a response worthy of the champions.

“It is true we are very hurt. We are in a critical situation with a responsibility,” Del Bosque said.

“We have still a chance tomorrow for getting through at the World Cup … we expect a player’s response for going to the last 16.”

Midfielder Andres Iniesta said a first-up loss is nothing new for Spain, after they were downed by Switzerland in South Africa before going all the way to winning the trophy.

“I feel we are ready for winning,” the Barcelona man said.

“It is true we had a terrible first match, which makes us hard to come back where Spain was before the last match but at the same time I can feel we have to go on.

“We lived a similar situation at the last World Cup, despite living different moments.

“We have two finals and we have to give our best for getting the chance of being in the next round.”