Spanish national team manager Vicente del Bosque has included four Real Madrid players in the preliminary list for Brazil’s 2014 World Cup.
Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Daniel Carvajal and Xabi Alonso have made it into the first selection, and all of them except Carvajal have their ticket for Brazil secured.
Del Bosque will have to reject seven players before May 25th, when the final 23-man list has to be sent over to the FIFA.
The former Real Madrid manager has already chosen his three goalkeepers for the event: Casillas, Pepe Reina and David de Gea. All of them will be in the final list, leaving Diego Lopez out despite his good performances in La Liga this season.
Ramos and Alonso are also two key players for Del Bosque, and they already know they will be in Brazil. Meanwhile, Carvajal will have to fight for the right-back role with Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta and Atletico’s Juanfran Torres. Only two of them will make it in the final squad.
Del Bosque has finally decided to leave Alvaro Arbeloa out, despite having admitted a few weeks ago that the Spartan would travel to Brazil if he was healthy. Real Madrid home-grown defender has already recovered from his injury, but Carvajal’s great state of shape has penalized him.
The Spanish manager has also left Isco out, given the high competency in his position. Former Real Madrid defender Raul Albiol and Los Merengues home-grown players Juan Mata and Alvaro Negredo have also been included among the 30 preselected men.
Here is the complete list: Iker Casillas, Pepe Reina, David de Gea, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Alberto Moreno, Javi Martinez, Raul Albiol, Juanfran Torres, Daniel Carvajal, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Koke Resurreccion, Ander Iturraspe, Xavi Hernandez, Thiago Alcantara, Pedro, Jesus Navas, David Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Juan Mata, Santi Cazorla, Andres Iniesta, Diego Costa, David Villa, Fernando Torres, Alvaro Negredo and Fernando Llorente.
* Follow Alejandro Gonzalez on Twitter @alejandrognieto
Very strong Squad. I can see Spain taking the world cup again this year.