Soccer:Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque has left Valencia striker Roberto Soldado out of his squad for Euro 2012 and has also omitted Atletico Madrid's Adrian Lopez, despite his goalscoring debut in the 2-0 win over Serbia last night.
Soldado scored a hat-trick for the world and European champions against Venezuela in March and there may well be a sigh of relief in the Irish camp that he has not been included for the trip to Poland.
The Republic of Ireland face Group C opponents Spain in Gdansk on June 14th. Giovanni Trapattoni will have to prepare his defence for a strikeforce that could include Fernando Torres, despite his erratic form at Chelsea, Sevilla's Alvaro Negredo, who scored 13 goals in La Liga for Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente and Barcelona forward Pedro.
"There is no special case," said Del Bosque, of the players who missed out. "It's the same for everyone, Soldado, Adrian and the rest. They may feel upset but they must be good sportsmen."
Defender Carles Puyol and record goalscorer David Villa were already ruled out of the tournament because of injury. Del Bosque admitted Villa, who stepped aside after failing to recover from a broken leg he suffered in December, would be difficult to replace.
"Villa is irreplaceable with his characteristics and effectiveness, nobody has done better than him," Del Bosque told reporters. "We have to look for solutions and we have plenty of them. I have to say, because of all the time he has been with us, that Villa is irreplaceable.
“In September, we will make more call-ups so they have to be ready for that. In football, you need to bring in new blood, but not make changes for the sake of it."
Manchester United's David de Gea also failed to make the cut despite being included in a provisional squad which has been training in Austria.
Atletico Madrid’s Juanfran is included thanks in part to an injury suffered by Andoni Iraola in the Copa del Rey finalm defeat to Barcelona.
Spain squad:Casillas (Real Madrid), Valdes (Barcelona), Reina (Liverpool); Alba (Valencia), Albiol, Arbeloa, Ramos (all Real Madrid), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Pique (Barcelona), Martinez (Athletic Bilbao); Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Busquets, Fabregas (all Barcelona), Alonso (Real Madrid), Silva (Manchester City), Cazorla (Villarreal), Navas (Sevilla), Mata (Chelsea); Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Torres (Chelsea), Negredo (Sevilla), Pedro (Barcelona).
