As the runner-up of this Champions League, Atletico Madrid has selected four people in the national team squad this time, even surpassing Real Madrid.

In order to stay secure, Bosque has recruited almost all players who have performed very well in their respective clubs this season, who have secured their starting positions and have strong immediacy in the field.

People like Isco, Cazorla, Morata, Javi Garcia, Negredo, etc., were all abandoned by him.

After the announcement of this list, it did not cause controversy, and the biggest controversy actually came from the front line.

"Isn't it too much to have five strikers up front?"

A few years ago, the biggest headache for Spanish fans was the team's weakness and lack of strong strikers.

In just a few years, they don't have this kind of worry, but they dislike the team's forward line is too bloated!

"To be honest, the forward line really doesn't need to bring so many people, Iniesta, David Silva can play wingers, Lin Quan and Villa can play on the side, Lin Quan can even play as a front midfielder, Torres and Costa can bring one of the two center forwards!"

'That's right, Torres has been so poor in recent seasons, having only scored nine goals in 32 appearances for Chelsea last year, which is too shabby!'

Torres has really struggled in recent seasons, and his goal statistics are not to mention that they are compared with Lin Quan and Diego Costa, even with the 33-year-old veteran Villabi, which is a lot worse.

Many Spanish fans are reminded of the last World Cup.

During the World Cup in South Africa, Torres played seven games for Spain, but he didn't score a single goal, which was a big surprise.

Fans are like military fans, they are all big pigs' trotters.

After having a new favorite, the old one was left behind in the blink of an eye.

Since you can't score a goal, then everyone naturally doesn't want to play with you.

"Didn't Diego Costa just retire injured in the Champions League final? Is his injury healed? ”

"Not so fast, right? It's not even a week before the finals, so it's impossible to be so fast! ”

"Since his injuries are not healed, why did you recruit him?"

For Diego Costa, who was selected for the national team for the first time, fans are not small.

He was injured in the Champions League final and there are doubts that he will be able to make it in time for this World Cup.

The Champions League final and the opening of the World Cup are less than a month away, and in such a short time, even if he can recover from his injury, he will not have time to train and run in with his teammates.

In the absence of tacit understanding and cooperation, it is doubtful how much of a difference he can make by letting him go straight on the pitch.

If Spain were the same team that lacked strikers, the Matadors fans might be hungry.

But now, they already have Lin Quan.

As a result, many people are very puzzled by Bosque's decision, and doubts arise one after another.

Regardless, after the final 23-man squad was announced at the end of May, Spain's squad framework was largely set.

After the team was fully assembled, Bosque went through a week-long closed training session.

Spain's traditional tactic is pass-and-control, which has helped them win numerous glory games in all competitions.

It stands to reason that they shouldn't change their style of play easily.

However, Barcelona's successive defeats in the league and Champions League this season have given Bosque a serious sense of crisis.

Passing football has come to this point, there is no longer the original mystery at all, everyone has a comprehensive understanding of it, knows its advantages and disadvantages, and knows how to limit it.

In La Liga, Atletico Madrid's high pressing and defensive counterattacks made Barcelona very uncomfortable, proving that this method can effectively limit passing and controlling football.

In Group B, where Spain is located, the Dutch team, which is good at attacking and defending, is a team that likes to press high.

As the uncrowned king, the Dutch team has a very luxurious lineup.

A team that can play full offense and defense will naturally not be weak.

So they will undoubtedly be Spain's biggest rivals in the group stage, and the revenge-hungry Dutchman will surely show their best form when they meet the Matadors to avenge the World Cup final in South Africa.

In this case, the situation is a bit unfavorable for Spain.

The match between the two teams is the first of the group stage, and the outcome of this game will be crucial for both teams to qualify from the group.

The winner will undoubtedly have a head start on the qualifying side, while the losing side is in danger of being knocked out of the tournament.

Moreover, the second place in the group will encounter the top spot of the other groups, and if you really qualify as the second in the group, it will be difficult to play in the subsequent games.

As the defending champions, Spain will undoubtedly receive a lot of attention from all sides.

In this case, their every move is observed under a magnifying glass by the outside world.

If they lose the first game, the criticism will completely engulf them and the players and coaching staff will be under unprecedented pressure.

If this form is extended to the next game, they will lose two in a row, and two consecutive defeats mean that they will be eliminated!

The dignified World Cup champion, who lost two consecutive games at the beginning, did not qualify for the group stage, and went home directly at the speed of light, which may create a new world record!

This kind of record is not a good record, but the kind of record that will be remembered and ridiculed for a lifetime.

During the World Cup in South Africa, defending champions Italy managed to make it to the third round of the group stage, and Spain could not break their record no matter what.

So, to be on the safe side, Bosque intends to make some adjustments to the team's tactics.

Of course, due to time constraints, he couldn't recreate a new set of tactical plays.

These changes were mainly prepared for the first game of the group stage, the game against the Netherlands.

In the face of the Netherlands, who are attacking and defending all the time, how to play a threatening counterattack is the key to limiting or even defeating them.

And this is the main reason why Bosque recruited Diego Costa into the team!

To this end, he specially designed a set of playing styles and rehearsed them within the team.

The results of the drill were not bad, during which he also played two friendlies with two lower league teams in Spain to test the form of the players.

Overall, apart from some older players, Spain are in good form overall.

It's just that the problem of the aging of the squad is very obvious.

Playing an entire season without a break has led to a decline in the form of Xavi, Villa, Alonso and others.

And their fitness probably won't be enough for them to play the whole game.

Therefore, in the next game, if you want to arrange these people to play, you must reduce their appearance on the field at the same time as much as possible, so as not to have enough substitutions in your hands when there is an unexpected situation.

Fortunately, there are a lot of spare players on the bench, and Bosque does not have to worry about personnel problems for the time being.

On June 6, with 8 days left before the start of the group stage, the Spanish team took a plane and set off from Madrid to Brazil, the host of this World Cup!

Spain weren't the first team to start, the Three Lions and Germany were already one step ahead of them.

However, as the number one favorite in this World Cup, Spain has received much more attention than the other two teams.

The Spanish team first flew to Washington, D.C., where they made a short stop before connecting to Curitiba, Brazil.

During their stay at Washington Airport, they caused a huge sensation at the airport, and many fans gathered around them after discovering the figure of the Spanish national team, asking them for autographs and group photos, and the scene was a little out of control for a while.

The airport had to separate hundreds of security personnel to maintain order and isolate their areas to stabilize the situation.

When they entered the base camp in Brazil, they were frantically followed by local fans, with more than 5,000 local Brazilian fans and Spanish fans who arrived early coming to the airport to meet them.

As for the journalists from all over the world who came to the scene, there were countless of them.

Seeing the guns and cannons of hundreds of journalists outside the airport and the heads of thousands of fans, the Spanish players felt the atmosphere of the World Cup.

As players who have experienced countless major tournaments, they can be said to have seen a lot of such scenes.

However, the World Cup is very different from other competitions.

Even if you are a player who has experienced it firsthand, when you come to such an occasion, you will be infected by the atmosphere of the scene, and you can't help but feel excited and nervous.

Not to mention a newcomer like Lin Quan, who has never participated in the World Cup before.

"Relax, it's still early!"

Sensing the nervousness of the players, Puyol clapped his hands inside the bus and reassured.

"And, we're the defending champions, what are we nervous about? It's the other people who should be nervous! ”

This sentence caused everyone to laugh, and the tension in the bus suddenly dissipated a lot.

Lin Quan secretly gave Puyol a thumbs up.

Sure enough, inviting Puyol to join the team was the right decision!

In order to welcome the arrival of the Spanish team, 500 security personnel were dispatched to the Coritiba Airport and Cahu Sports City base to escort the Spanish team's bus to the training base.

However, even so, when leaving the airport, players including the number one star Lin Quan, Spain coach Bosque, captain Casillas and Iniesta were still hugged by fans and asked for autographs.

No way, there are too many fans at the scene.

Moreover, the security personnel arranged by the Brazilian side are not professional enough, they stopped the fans, and on the other hand, they relied on the convenience of their positions to ask the Spanish players for autographs and group photos before the fans.

This made the Spanish players cry and laugh a little: Big brother, you are working, can you be serious?

However, not everyone was welcomed, and Spain's new striker, Diego Costa, was booed by Brazilian fans when he appeared at the airport.

Some fans even made a 'friendly international' gesture at him, and Diego Costa's face was ugly, and he didn't dare to attack, so he could only pretend not to see it, and hurriedly left the airport under the escort of security personnel and boarded the team's bus.

As for his teammates, they are still surrounded by fans and can't get out for the time being.

In light of the disturbances at the airport in Spain, the tournament organisers took the security of the defending champions very seriously.

In order to ensure the safety of the Spanish team, from the day they arrive, at least 200 security guards will be scattered in every corner of the Cahu Sports City every day, to ensure that the defending champions can train and live without outside interference

After a long flight of 16 hours, Spain was tired enough.

After arriving at the World Cup training base in Coritiba, Bosque did not arrange training and asked the players to go straight to rest.

There is a five-hour time difference between Brazil and Spain, and the players need to adapt to the time difference as soon as possible to adjust their physical condition as soon as possible.

Otherwise, a poor rest will seriously affect their competitive form and leave them out of the starting line-up for the opening game!

Naturally, the players knew this very well, so they all honestly went back to their rooms to rest.

During the World Cup, in order to prevent the players from going out and fooling around, there was a scandal.

Bosque allowed the players' families, known as their wives, to travel with the team.

For abstinence, Bosque is not as explicit as the German coach Loew.

As long as the players don't mess around, he won't object to the players' wives and girlfriends to appease the players.

Of course, the premise is that it does not affect the game.

With such an open-minded manager, the Spanish internationals are naturally grateful to Dade.

In the days following Spain's arrival in Brazil, the teams that came to participate in this World Cup have basically arrived one after another.

The atmosphere of the World Cup is also becoming more and more intense, and slogans and pictures promoting the World Cup can be seen hanging on the streets and alleys.

Even if you stay in the training base, the Spanish players can gradually feel it.

Because, the number of Brazilian fans outside the training ground began to gradually increase.

And, unlike the Brazilian fans who liked and supported Spain before, almost all of the fans who rushed outside their training base were die-hard Brazilian team loyalists.

They waved the Brazilian flag, had the Brazilian flag on their faces, made a lot of noise outside the training ground, and could occasionally be heard shouting insults at the Spanish players.

It's hard to hold a World Cup on home soil, and Brazil is desperate to win the Hercules Cup on home soil!

However, judging by the results of last year's Confederations Cup final, they will need to cross the huge mountain of Spain to make that dream a reality.

However, in the face of this almost invincible division, the Brazilians are not very confident.

As a result, many Brazilians are pinning their hopes on the Netherlands and Chile to join forces to knock Spain out of the tournament.

For this reason, they did not hesitate to go to great lengths to disrupt their training outside the training base in Spain, affect their form and make their games more difficult.

The opponent's behavior was so bad that the Spanish team leader immediately called in the security personnel and hoped that they would send someone to disperse the fans.

But after the security personnel dispersed the fans in a perfunctory manner, they let it go.

When the fans saw the attitude of the security personnel, they suddenly became bolder, not only more and more people, but also closer and closer.

This made Bosque angry, and he asked people to urgently recontact the hotel and change the place to rest, and at the same time contacted the Spanish Football Federation and asked them to protest to FIFA.

Before the game started, the Brazilian team made this kind of off-the-board move, which is really embarrassing!

(End of chapter)