Del Bosque not to stray from right path
Reuters - Thursday 17 July 2008, 12:37
LAS ROZAS - Vicente del Bosque
preached a message of continuity at his presentation as the new
coach of European champions Spain on Thursday.
The former Real Madrid boss was given the unanimous backing
of the Spanish Football Federation's executive committee on
Tuesday, to replace Luis Aragones who quit to join Fenerbahce
after having led the side to victory at Euro 2008 last month.
"The objectives are clear. In the short term we have to
qualify for the World Cup and to do well at the Confederations
Cup next summer," Del Bosque told a news conference.
"We also have the objective to maintain the style with which
Spain has achieved one of the greatest moments in its history,
and we need to maintain the group that has been so important in
this success."
The 57-year-old, who was capped 18 times for Spain between
1975 and 1980, did not believe the success in Austria and
Switzerland had set him too tough a standard to try and maintain
or improve on.
Spain's 1-0 final victory over Germany in Vienna earned them
their first major honour in 44 years.
"Many people have said this, but it would have been far
worse to be taking over a side who had gone out in the
quarter-finals again, having to try and raise everyone's
spirits," he said. "Other countries would be envious of my
position.
"I want to keep this momentum going and bring my own
experience and way of doing things to the side in order to try
and make improvements. Football is a constantly changing
environment and you cannot afford to stand still.
"The path has been marked out and I do not intend to stray
too far from it."
NEW FACES
The quietly-spoken new coach calmly batted away questions
over which new personnel might come into consideration for the
World Cup campaign and his first official match, a friendly in
Denmark on Aug. 20.
The names of Real Madrid striker Raul and midfielder Guti,
both controversially sidelined under Aragones, were put forward,
as was that of Barcelona's teenage striker Bojan Krkic, as
potential new faces under his regime.
"We need to have patience. Raul and Guti play for a great
club and, of course, in a different era I have worked with them.
But when it comes to taking the decisions I will listen to
people but always do what I think is best for the team," he
said.
"Bojan has played for Spain in the youth categories and if
we think it is appropriate, of course we will use him."
The 17-year-old Bojan ruled himself out of the running for
Euro 2008 after consultation with the Federation citing the
pressure of playing in a major tournament.
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