‘Great moment for Spanish football’

Jul 05, 2010 |

JOHANNESBURG

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque was in jubilant mood after his team made history by reaching the World Cup semifinals for the first time.
The quiet and unassuming Del Bosque spoke of his joy ahead of Wednesday’s last four duel with Germany in Durban. “I believe in what we’re doing here and reaching the semifinal represents a great moment for Spanish football,” he said. “We’re amongst the four best teams in the world. It’s fantastic to be playing Germany again, we beat them in the last European Championships (final). Germany and Spain are amongst the elite in the world. Three European teams in the last four speaks volumes for European football,” he said.
Technically it is the first time Spain will play in the semifinals although back in 1950 they did qualify for the final group stage of four teams, finishing bottom and fourth, but back then there were only 13 teams in the tournament compared with the 32 of today. But Del Bosque now stands on the brink of becoming a legend in his home country following on from his remarkable success at Real Madrid.
Del Bosque described this as a glorious period in the country’s football fortunes. “It’s an absolutely marvellous time for Spanish football, we’ve seen this not just now but due to a number factors Spanish football is now at the very top,” he said, adding, “We didn’t play a good match but we have the resources to face any opponent.”

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