David Villa ruled himself out of the running for a place in Spain’s squad for Euro 2012 on Tuesday after failing to fully recover from a broken leg.
Villa has not played a competitive match since breaking his leg in the FIFA Club World Cup in December and said on his official Twitter feed:
“I tried right to the end but I wasn’t able to get to 100 per cent for the Euros.
“Today I called the coach to tell him. It was the most honest thing to do. Thanks to all of you for your support.”
The Spanish football federation (RFEF) broke the news with an earlier statement.
“After failing to achieve the desired progress in recent training sessions, Villa spoke with Del Bosque,” the RFEF said.
(He) told him although he would like to be with the team in Poland and Ukraine, his physical state ‘isn’t the best’ for a competition like the Euros.
“The RFEF and Spain’s coaching staff wish the player all the best in his recovery and hope he will return soon to the national team, and value the effort made by David to get back to full fitness.”
With no Villa, Spain are expected to put their faith now in Chelsea striker Fernando Torres, who has not exactly been a goalscoring machine the last 18 months or so.
In addition to Torres, Del Bosque has Valencia’s Roberto Soldado, Sevilla’s Alvaro Negredo and Atletico Madrid’s Adrian Lopez already in the squad, while Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente and possibly Barca’s Pedro could still be called up.