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World Cup 2010: Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez to focus on helping Spain, not on Real Madrid rumours
Midfielder also ready to say 'no thanks' to Real Madrid...
22 May 2010 17:30:00
By Anthony Wright
Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez is still revelling in his call-up to the Spanish national team for the World Cup this summer, and he admitted that he is still pinching himself after hearing the news.
"It's the biggest thing that has happened to me. I still can't believe it!" the 21-year-old revealed to AS.
"[My objective in South Africa] is to learn from an experience that doesn't come around every year, to enjoy it and to do my bit to help Spain win the World Cup."
Martinez has recently been linked with a move to Real Madrid following his excellent performances for Athletic this year, but he is ready to snub los Blancos in favour of staying in Bilbao.
"At the moment, I'm absorbing [the news] about the national team, I'm not paying much attention to that [the Real Madrid rumours].
"My wish is to continue playing here. I'm very happy in Bilbao and I've always said so."
However, he did admit that it was nice to be linked with the Madrid giants as it means he is performing to the best of his abilities.
"It's always positive to be linked with them and it's flattering. If this sort of news comes out it means that you're doing the right things with your team."
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £10.63 | Draw £80.00 | China £260.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £11.00 | Draw £90.00 | China £230.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £11.00 | Draw £90.00 | China £210.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £11.00 | Draw £90.00 | China £210.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £10.30 | Draw £110.00 | China £260.00 |
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"It's the biggest thing that has happened to me. I still can't believe it!" the 21-year-old revealed to AS.
"[My objective in South Africa] is to learn from an experience that doesn't come around every year, to enjoy it and to do my bit to help Spain win the World Cup."
Martinez has recently been linked with a move to Real Madrid following his excellent performances for Athletic this year, but he is ready to snub los Blancos in favour of staying in Bilbao.
"At the moment, I'm absorbing [the news] about the national team, I'm not paying much attention to that [the Real Madrid rumours].
"My wish is to continue playing here. I'm very happy in Bilbao and I've always said so."
However, he did admit that it was nice to be linked with the Madrid giants as it means he is performing to the best of his abilities.
"It's always positive to be linked with them and it's flattering. If this sort of news comes out it means that you're doing the right things with your team."
Become a fan of Goal.com UK's Facebook fan page for all the latest news and insight into everything related to the beautiful game!
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Spain - China
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 2-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
19:32 BST
We're getting plenty of people saying it was boring. PLENTY. But Spain scored seven goals in eight games at the World Cup and I didn't hear too many of their fans complaining. Or as Fran Stinchcombe points out on Twitter: "If we had lost but played free flowing attacking football would these people still have moaned?"
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