Del Bosque praises Spain´s application

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque hailed his team’s ‘professional’ performance in their 10-0 FIFA Confederations Cup win over Tahiti.

Much of the talk prior to Thursday’s Group B fixture had been dominated by predictions of how many goals Spain could put past their opponents, and four from Fernando Torres, a hat-trick from David Villa, two from David Silva and a Juan Mata strike saw them reach double figures.

Spain face Nigeria in their final group game and need just a point to secure top spot, with their superior goal difference ensuring virtual progression already to the semi-final stages. The other fixtures sees Tahiti face Uruguay, who need to better Nigeria’s result to reach the last four.

Del Bosque led the tributes Tahiti’s spirited performance as the team ranked 138th in the world rankings kept battling despite the crushing scoreline.

“The result is the difference between one team and another, on this occasion the difference is very large. The comparison between professional football and amateur football,” he said.

“But other than that I think we played to the best of our ability, we played a serious match, and put in our full effort throughout.

“They (Tahiti) played a clean and very athletic game, they were not locked in their penalty area, they wanted to attack and have had three or four chances to score.

“I certainly don’t feel that (the result) has harmed the game in any way, because both teams have given their all and played well.”