Javi García spells out Spanish belief
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
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Spain midfielder Javi García is confident his team can overturn a 2-1 deficit and pip Switzerland to a place in next year's UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals when their play-off tie concludes this evening.
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'We can do it'
A defeat in Aarau on Saturday left Spain trailing the play-off ahead of tonight's home return and brought an end to a run of eight victories from as many qualifiers. But although Sergi Busquets's 18th-minute opener was trumped by Switzerland's Johan Vonlanthen and Adrian Nikci, Real Madrid CF's Javi García is still hopeful of a ticket to Sweden. "It would be a real pity if a team of our quality didn't qualify for the final tournament," he said. "I believe we can do it. Everyone here is extremely motivated and we hope everything will go well for us on the night."
Gifted visitors
But that is not to say Spain were not impressed by Switzerland, or that they will have it easy, especially in the absence of injured trio José Ángel Crespo, Pedro Rodríguez and Esteban Granero. "Everything was pointing towards a comfortable game for us after we went in front," Javi García said. "When they then equalised in the first half it hit us and we couldn't react. We thought they would play a more physical game but the truth is that they have three or four very quick, technically-gifted players up front."
Schürmann hopeful
Switzerland's only previous qualification was in 2002 – two years after Spain's most recent finals appearance – and coach Pierre-André Schürmann is upbeat despite again having to do without Almen Abdi, Blerim Dzemaili, Jonas Elmer, Julian Esteban, Claudio Lustenberger and Kay Voser. "It will be an extremely difficult match, because Spain are one of the best teams worldwide in this age group," Schürmann said. "But until now we have done a good job relying on ourselves to play the best we can. We won't change that."