La Liga

Torres: Spain need to top group

Fernando Torres has told Republic of Ireland that Spain are determined to win their remaining games in Group C after being held by Italy.

Giovanni Trapattoni’s men need a positive result themselves in Gdansk on Thursday following a loss to Croatia, but Torres is confident that Spain will come out on top.

The Chelsea striker is not too worried about only drawing 1-1 with the Azzurri but recognises that no more points can be dropped if they are to finish as group winners.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a disaster but we have to win every game now,” he said.

“We knew it was Italy and what we were up against. Now we have to try and finish top of the group.”

Torres started Sunday’s game against Italy on the substitutes’ bench after Vicente del Bosque took the surprising decision to start without a recognised centre-forward.

Cesc Fabregas had to lead the line and scored for Spain to cancel out Antonio Di Natale’s opener, while Torres could not snatch a winner after being denied by Gianluigi Buffon.

“It was a shame to miss that goal. Buffon won the duel as he guessed my intention. But both teams had chances to win,” said Torres, who refused to complain about being left out of the starting line-up.

He added: “What’s important is Spain win regardless of whether it’s with a striker or without. Cesc played a great match.

“It’s not a bad result by any means. We were playing against the four-time world champions and once Euro champions.”