Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque has defender his decision to start Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas as a false no. 9 in Sunday’s opening 1-1 draw with Italy at the 2012 European Championships.
Fabregas scored the reigning world and European champions’ goal after Antonio Di Natale had put the Azzurri ahead in the second half.
However, Spanish journalists quizzed Del Bosque about his decision to start Fabregas as his lead striker, rather than using forward Fernando Torres, who appeared to make the team function better when introduced off the bench.
“The plan didn’t go badly, Cesc did very well in this position. When Fernando Torres came on the match was much more open,” Del Bosque argued.
“We had more chances to score, but so did they and we can’t forget that. Time will tell whether this is a good point or not.”
The Spain boss added: “I preferred to dominate the midfield - to take possession and go from there. Silva, Cesc and Iniesta did very well in between the lines on many occasions.
“The Italians were not limited to just retreating, which we knew from the beginning. I knew that Italy were going to press high up the pitch and wanted to take the lead.”