体坛英语资讯：Bad pitch turns Del Bosque against playing Lithuania at Euro qualifier

MADRID, March 28 -- Spain national coach Vicente del Bosque said on Monday that he is in favor of postponing his side's European Championship 2017 qualifying game against Lithuania because of the dreadful state of the pitch.

Spain arrived in the Lithuanian capital of Kaunas on Sunday night to be greeted by a playing surface in the Staponas Darius and Stasys Girenas Stadium which is rock hard and almost totally devoid of grass.

Workmen have spent part of Monday working to break up and rake the surface of the pitch, but it is in poor condition and the match referee Laurent Duhamel will carry out an inspection to see if it is fit to play a competitive match.

Speaking in his pre-game press conference, Del Bosque admitted he would rather the game was played at a later date.

"It is evident that the pitch is not good. It is not in good condition to play football and the game should not be played," he said.

"If we have to play we will try and be positive and adapt to the playing surface, but it is not good for us or for Lithuania," added Del Bosque, who admitted that having to play at a later date would cause problems for the fixture calendar.

"If it was not for the question of the pitch, I would prefer to play. We know how tight the fixture calendar is and the problems of finding a date to play, but if the pitch is in bad condition, it is in bad condition."

"We are in good shape to play, we would like to play because that would be perfect, but if the pitch is not good then the ideal thing is to not play," continued Del Bosque.

The Spain coach added that under no circumstances did he blame the Lithuanians, saying the cause of the condition of the pitch was a "hard winter. It is not due to them not taking care of it," he insisted.

Earlier in the day, midfielder Andres Iniesta also gave his opinion on the playing surface. The FC Barcelona midfielder commented that it reminded him of his days as a junior when he had played his football on dirt pitches.

Meanwhile Del Bosque also talked about the Lithuanian side who Spain have already beaten 3-1 in Salamanca earlier in this qualifying campaign.

"They are a team that works for each other, that stays close to one another, that doesn't leave spaces and which is good on the break. We are favorites, but we have come here to play an important game for us with humility," he insisted.