MADRID: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque recalled Fernando Torres on Friday in place of Barcelona’s Bojan Krkic in a 21-man squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Belgium.
Del Bosque decided to leave out Krkic, who made his debut against Armenia last month, with the 18-year-old rejoining the Under-21 squad to make way for Liverpool striker Torres, who was injured for last month’s first two Group Five qualifiers.
The team, with not much changes from the squad who won the European Championship in June, are due to gather in Madrid for their first training session on Tuesday before the match in Tallinn on Oct 11.
Spain will play Belgium four days later.
Spain, unbeaten in 25 matches after wins against Bosnia and Armenia last month, lead their group with six points, two ahead of Turkey and Belgium.
Del Bosque has recalled Raul Albiol despite the defender suffering a slight injury during Valencia’s win against Portugal’s Maritimo in their midweek UEFA Cup tie.
Despite the settled look of the squad, the coach warned that he could push through changes in the future.
“There is a theory, shared by almost everyone, that it is best not to touch this team. I believe that life without changes is bad and we have to be open to other possibilities,” del Bosque told a news conference, before adding a final caveat. “We have confidence in this group and we are not just making changes for the sake of it.
