Bloemfontein, South Africa - Every cloud has a silver
lining: striker Fernando Torres believes Spain's defeat against the
United States is actually useful ahead of the World Cup, while
teammate Carlos Marchena insisted on Spain's 'right to lose.'
'We drew very positive conclusions from the World Cup in Germany
that helped us for the Euro, and the defeat against the United States
helps us ahead of the World Cup (in South Africa),' said Torres.
The Spanish striker leads the scorers' table at the Confederations
Cup with three goals, the same as compatriot David Villa and
Brazilian Luis Fabiano.
Marchena denied that the evident mistakes made by Joan Capdevila
and Sergio Ramos in the two US goals indeed caused the defeat.
'You don't lose a match over two mistakes. There are 90 minutes,
and there is time to mend two mistakes and more,' the defender
stressed.
'You can never take things individually,' the Valencia player
said. 'We are not bad over two mistakes or more. We lost against a
good team. Every team has a right to lose.'
When asked whether it motivates him to be the tournament's top
scorer, Torres insisted that Spain;s players are 'a team.' Like
Marchena, he praised the United States over their performance
Wednesday.
'I think they did things 100 per cent perfect, because they played
a perfect game in every aspect, we have to congratulate them.'
Spain are set to play South Africa Sunday in Rustenburg, in a game
for third place that they were not exactly planning on, but that they
ended up in after their unexpected 2-0 loss to the United States in
Bloemfontein late Wednesday.
Vicente del Bosque's men had accumulated 35 matches without a loss
and a winning streak of 15 games before crashing to the United
States. European champions a year ago, Spain lead the FIFA rankings,
and they were billed as the favourites to carry their second title in
12 months.
Daniel Gueiza, who barely played a few minutes in the tournament
so far, was hoping to be a starter against South Africa.
'If I have the chance I am going to go all out for it, that's
clear. If not, I will keep waiting and working so that the coach can
keep bringing me over and I can keep enjoying this national team,'
the Fenerbahce striker said.
Spain players watched late Thursday Brazil's tight 1-0 win over
South Africa, and they think the United States stand a chance to win
the tournament when they play the winners of five editions of the
World Cup Sunday.
'Of course, they have options, as does Brazil,' Torres said.
'At such an important moment being the favourite is worth little.
They will play a very attack-oriented game, like they did against
us,' the striker said.
USA
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