Torres, one of the stars of the Spanish side hits new low in his career when Spain manager Del Bosque decided not to include him even on the bench in the Euro 2012 qualifying match against Liechtenstein. Del Bosque started with Alvaro Negredo instead of Torres who bagged a brace in the match. Spain eventually thrashed Liechtenstein 6-0 to grab a deserved victory.
Torres axed from Spain's first team
Torres has been struggling for form since his arrival at Stamford Bridge in January from Liverpool. The 27 year old striker came with a £50million price tag and already is being labeled as an expensive flop. Torres has managed to score just 1 goal in all of his appearances for Chelsea. Spain manager Del Bosque said though Torres is an established member of the squad but he will not overlook players’ current form and select them based on their reputation. He said that Torres will not be treated as a special case either. Del Bosque said – “He (Torres) is an important player, but the people selected for the national team are those who do well for their clubs, not the other way round.”
Not only in the club level Torres has found the back of the net just once for his national team in the past year. His last international goal came against United States in July. As the competition to partner Spain’s all time leading goalscorer David Villa heating up players like Alvaro Negredo, Fernando Llorente and Roberto Soldado will now be looking to make the most of Torres’s lack of form. Alvaro Negredo who bagged a brace in the match though played down the significance of Torres’s absence. He said – “He came down to the dressing room after the game and congratulated me. I’m not going to enter into whether he was annoyed or anything, it was a great gesture to congratulate me for the goals. I would understand it if he was, because it isn’t much fun to come and not play a single minute, but he is a great colleague and is one of the captains of the national team.”
If Torres wants to be a part of the Spanish squad which will defend their title at the Euro 2012, he will have to pull up his socks and get back his goal scoring form with Chelsea.
Tags: Chelsea, Del Bosque, EURO 2012, Fernando Torres, Football, Liechtenstein, Spain
