Del Bosque hails upbeat Spain

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque lauded his team’s attitude ahead of matches against Costa Rica and Belarus.

The European champions host Costa Rica in a friendly on Thursday before a Euro 2016 qualifier three days later.

Del Bosque praised his team’s character, with the qualifier particularly crucial as Spain sit second in Group C.

“I have something I want to say about this team meeting where we’ve been for the last five days,” he told a news conference.

“Monday and Tuesday this week went very well, everyone has had a great attitude, which was part of the objective of this team meeting.

“At the same time I think that we’ve incorporated those who were missing due to finals, those players who weren’t with us all of last week.

“If we need them to lend a hand, we can ask them for it, although we’ll keep this in mind for when we decide the line-up.

“We’ll reserve some of them so that they are in the best possible condition for the match against Belarus.”

Thursday will mark another encounter at the Santiago Bernabeu for Keylor Navas, the Costa Rica and Real Madrid goalkeeper.

Del Bosque praised the 28-year-old for his performances at both club and international level.

“I think that Keylor Navas was one of the key players in the last World Cup and is also one of the most important players in his national team,” he said.

“He’s one of the main players who helped them go through unbeaten for most of the tournament.

“He’s a goalkeeper who played well for his club, for Levante. Real Madrid signed him because they liked him. He’s a good goalkeeper.”