mohamed arafa
The Leader
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تاريخ التسجيل : 30/07/2009
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 |  موضوع: Villa: Let's stick together الجمعة يونيو 18, 2010 1:38 am | |
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Villa: Let's stick together
 Getty Images
“It’s
a huge blow,” said midfield maestro Xavi Hernandez after Spain’s
unexpected 1-0 defeat to Switzerland, summing up the sense of dejection
in La Roja camp. Bloodied but unbowed, the Spaniards
still believe firmly in their own abilities, however, and remain
committed to their seductive passing game.Proof of that came when
striker David Villa spoke exclusively to FIFA.com
after the game. “We need to keep on working,” said the Barcelona
striker, who endured a frustrating afternoon in Durban, searching in
vain for a chink in Switzerland’s defensive armour. “We don’t have any
margin for error now and we can’t afford any more slip-ups. We’ve got to
try and win our next two games.”Asked for an explanation for
Wednesday’s shock defeat, El Guaje was almost at a loss for
words. “It was a strange game, just like the one against USA at the
Confederations Cup last year. The Swiss defended extremely well and made
life really hard for us.”Though understandably disappointed with
the outcome, the former Valencia hitman is still a passionate believer
in the Spanish style: “We tried to play our game but we didn’t manage to
get the penetration we usually do. We’re going to carry on playing the
same way, though.”
We didn’t
manage to get the penetration we usually do. We’re going to carry on
playing the same way, though.
David Villa
With
coach Vicente del Bosque opting for two holding midfielders in Xabi
Alonso and Sergio Busquets, Villa was forced to plough a lone furrow up
front, not that the diminutive striker sees that as an excuse for his
fruitless performance: “This isn’t the time to start questioning the way
we play. We need to stick together right now and find a way to win the
two games we’ve got left. The good thing is we’ve got it out of the way
and we are convinced we can turn this around.”The chance to do
just that will come on Monday, when the reigning European champions take
on Honduras at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Los Catrachos, who
also lost their Group H opener, are appearing in only their second world
finals, the first being Spain 1982, when they held the hosts to a
goalless draw at the Estadio Luis Casanova in Valencia. Villa, who was
six months old at the time, does not fear a repeat: “We’ve just lost but
that’s no reason for us to go into the next game scared of defeat.”Though
the media are interpreting Spain’s shock reverse as something of a
humbling, Villa rejects any suggestion that he and his team-mates have
gone into the tournament believing themselves to be favourites. “The
only ones who’ll say we’ve been humbled are the people who’ve been
saying we’re the favourites,” counters Villa. “The players have always
called for calm and what happened today showed we’ve been right to do
that. We’ve always said that anyone can make life difficult for you and
we weren’t wrong. That’s why our conscience is clear right now.”Villa
and his fellow strikers have had it tough at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
South Africa so far, with goals proving hard to come by, though the
Spanish hotshot sees that as entirely logical: “The teams have a lot of
respect for each other, especially in the first round, with everyone
feeling their way into what is such an important competition. All I want
is for the goals to flow again when Spain play.”Should they do
so, there is a good chance Villa will be involved somewhere.
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