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Spain defender Joan Capdevila is counting on the team's recent trip to Austria for inspiration to win the World Cup. Spain won the European Championship in Austria in 2008, and the team trained in the Alpine country to prepare for the World Cup in South Africa.
"We found that spirit a little," Capdevila said on Sunday. "Two years ago it brought us luck, so let's see if it can do it again. Let's see if it can be our talisman."
Spain beat Germany 1-0 in Vienna to win the European trophy 44 years after their last major triumph.
Spain, one of the favorites going into the tournament, beat Saudi Arabia and South Korea in friendlies played in Innsbruck last week to make it 24 wins in 25 games under coach Vicente del Bosque. Also, Capdevila doesn't think England, the Netherlands, Germany or the Ivory Coast's chances at the World Cup will be hurt because of injuries to key players.
England are without captain Rio Ferdinand and Germany are missing Michael Ballack, while Ivory Coast could be without striker Didier Drogba and the Netherlands may be without Arjen Robben. "Every injury hurts you since these are players that want to participate, to be there, to play and help their teams. They are the stars of their sides," Capdevila said from the Las Rozas training ground in Madrid. "But you don't lose the World Cup because of one injury."
Spain had their own injury worry. Defender Gerard Pique took a knock on his right knee in training on Sunday, but the Barcelona player continued to practise after being examined by team doctors. "The truth is it's worrying," Capdevila said of the recent rash of injuries to others. "We're at the end of the season and we need to keep going carefully. We're taking precautions because the objective is to reach the World Cup in top shape."
As for some of the other favourites, Spain's players didn't expect recent losses by Italy and France to hurt their chances. "They always respond," Capdevila said. "Historically, we know they'll be among the contenders."
Spain were preparing for their final warm-up match against Poland on Tuesday, when Fernando Torres is expected to play for the first time since undergoing surgery on his right knee in April.
"We're going with ambition to achieve something great," forward Pedro Rodriguez said.
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