Spain coach Vicente del Bosque left Fernando Torres out of his starting lineup for Sunday's World Cup final against Netherlands, replacing the misfiring striker with Pedro for a second straight match.
Torres, who returned from knee surgery shortly before the tournament in South Africa and has not scored in six appearances, lost his place to Pedro in the semi-final against Germany and came off the bench late in the second half.
Pedro will partner striker David Villa, joint top scorer at the finals on five goals with Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder, Uruguay striker Diego Forlan and Germany forward Thomas Mueller, in a twin-pronged attack.
Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk restored right back Gregory van der Wiel and holding midfielder Nigel de Jong to his starting lineup after the pair were suspended for the 3-2 semifinal victory over Uruguay.
They replace Khalid Boulahrouz and Demy de Zeeuw respectively, who drop to the bench.
Teams
Netherlands: 1-Maarten Stekelenburg; 2-Gregory van der Wiel, 3-John Heitinga, 4-Joris Mathijsen, 5-Giovanni van Bronckhorst; 7-Dirk Kuyt, 6-Mark van Bommel, 10-Wesley Sneijder, 8-Nigel de Jong, 11-Arjen Robben; 9-Robin van Persie.
Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 3-Gerard Pique, 5-Carles Puyol, 11-Joan Capdevila; 14-Xabi Alonso, 8-Xavi, 6-Andres Iniesta, 16-Sergio Busquets; 18-Pedro, 7-David Villa.
Referee: Howard Webb (England)
No comments:
Post a Comment