Spain boss Vicente del Bosque has claimed that he could not afford to be 'sentimental' when it came to selecting his provisional squad for Euro 2016.
The likes of Diego Costa, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla were all left out of Del Bosque's selection, while there was no room for Fernando Torres despite his impressive end to the season for Atletico Madrid.
Del Bosque has insisted that he is "fully confident" in the current group and believes that freshening the squad was key after a disappointing showing in the 2014 World Cup.
"The squad isn't perfect. Sure, there are players who deserve to be [in the squad] for their great campaigns, but I've made it clear that there's no room for sentiment in my choices," AS quotes Del Bosque as saying.
"I'm fully confident that I've picked the best [squad]. Now we must prepare in the best way possible. There are 11 or 12 players who weren't in Brazil, which speaks well of our regeneration, and what we want is [for the new faces] to adapt. We have no right to be champions, but we can dream of being [champions]."
Lucas Vazquez and Saul Niguez were among those that were called into the provisional squad.
Matt Law
