MADRID, Sept. 5 -- Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said this Tuesday that he was not worried about the lack of defensive talent available to him ahead of Tuesday's European Championship qualifying match at home to Liechtenstein.
A win will qualify Spain, who are the remaining European Champions, for next summer's finals, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine, but Del Bosque has one major problem.
With Barcelona duo Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique injured, Del Bosque used midfielder Javi Martinez in central defense in Friday's 3-2 win over Chile and looks likely to play Sergio Busquets in the same role in Tuesday's match.
Del Bosque has opted to play a midfielder in a deeper role rather than use either Alvaro Dominguez or Alberto Botia, two specialist defenders, who are making their first appearance, although he insists that the country is not short of defensive players he can trust.
"There is no shortage of defenders, but when we bring a player into the squad, we like to make secure progress," said the Spain coach at his pre-game press conference in the city of Logrono, where the match will be played.
"We have a lot of youngsters who we could pick: we have central defenders, full backs...and we know them all well. We will have time between now and the summer to pick the best of them," continued Del Bosque, who added that the game would not be as straightforward as some imagine it will be.
"I have warned the players that although Liechtenstein may be not as good technically as we are, they drew their last game which was in Lithuania and they played well. So we are going to be prepared to have problems," he said.
Del Bosque also commented on the fight which took place between both sides at the end of Friday's game against Chile. Many have taken it as a sign that there is no rift between the Real Madrid and Barcelona players in the squad, but Del Bosque admitted he was unhappy with the event.
"It wasn't very nice and I didn' t like it at all," he concluded.
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