The ‘selection headache’ is one of those footballing clichés that’s reserved for times like these.
With international managers across the continent announcing their preliminary squads for Euro 2016 a fortnight ago, many have now announced their final squads for the tournament.
With Englishmen quarrelling amongst themselves over Roy Hodgson’s decision to drop league-winner Danny Drinkwater from his 23-man squad, Vincente del Bosque is a man that’s been faced with what some might describe as being some considerably bigger calls.
His Spanish side will kick-off the tournament in France as reigning European champions – a title they’ve held since winning the competition in 2008. Despite this, they performed poorly at their last international showing in the World Cup two summers ago and as a result, some of the names that featured in Brazil will miss out this summer.
We already knew that Premier League stars such as Manchester United’s Juan Mata and Chelsea’s Diego Costa were not in contention for a seat on the Spanish plane to France, after the Del Bosque’s preliminary squad was announced a fortnight ago. Now, we’ve learned that two more high-profile names will not feature for Spain.
Fresh from winning the Champions League with Real Madrid at the weekend (albeit as a 72nd minute substitute for Toni Kroos), Isco missed the cut along with Atletico Madrid midfielder Saúl Ñíguez.
Premier League based players David De Gea, Hector Bellerin, Cesar Azpiluceta, Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and David Silva have all made it.
Here is the squad in full:
OFFICIAL | 23 men to make a nation’s dream come true. MAY THE 4TH BE WITH US! #VamosEspaña pic.twitter.com/bl8beSzbDP
— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) May 31, 2016
When you can afford to drop a couple of Champions League finalists from your squad, you know you’re in a strong position.
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