Del Bosque holds no selection regrets

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque insists he holds no regrets after leaving a number of high-profile players out of his final 23-man squad for Euro 2016.

The 65-year-old, who guided La Roja to European glory in 2012, finalised his squad for the tournament on Tuesday, with the likes of Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez and Real Madrid’s Isco missing out on a place at the finals.

Mario Gaspar, Santi Cazorla and Juan Mata were amongst the other high-profile casualties to miss out on selection and del Bosque admits that he sympathises with the players who were not included in the squad, but he insists he does not regret any of his final decisions.

He said: “I really think all of the them are the same, knowing how difficult it is to be out ahead of a major tournament like the European Championship. “Saul, Isco, Mario [Gaspar], [Santi] Cazorla, [Juan] Mata … we do have many players who haven’t come. I don’t regret just one comparing the others.”

Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin was a late inclusion in the squad after fellow defender Dani Carvajal was ruled out of the tournament due to a hip injury. Del Bosque admits that it was a blow to lose Carvajal so close to the finals, but he believes Bellerin can have an immediate impact on the squad in France.

He added: “I admit we were doubtful the day we made the list in terms of right-back. We chose Carvajal and Juanfran but Mario also deserved to be here. Anyway, this time we bet for Bellerin who is a guy for the future but also for the present as he is a player of Arsenal.”

Spain will take on the Czech Republic, Turkey and Croatia in Group D at the finals and they are available at 1.67 to finish top of the group, while they are priced at 1.07 to qualify for the knockout stages.