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World Cup 2010: Spain's Gerard Pique confident Fernando Torres will break tournament drought against Germany
Pique has backed national team-mate to break his duck...
5 Jul 2010 17:59:00
By Cyrus C. Malek
Spain centre-back Gerard Pique has expressed his confidence in team-mate Fernando Torres, believing the striker has World Cup goals in him despite the lacklustre form he has shown thus far in South Africa.
"Torres will score in this World Cup and I hope he does so in the semi-finals," he said, according to AS.
The light-hearted defender also praised David Villa's outstanding form in the tournament so far.
"When a striker is on a streak, everything goes in," the Barcelona man said.
"His goal against Paraguay as a perfect example: the ball hit both posts and under different circumstances, it may well have bounced out. But David would not be denied."
The centre-back admitted that Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against Germany has little to do with the historic duel between the sides in the Euro 2008 final.
"There are new players on both sides that did not play that final. It will be a unique match and we intend to win it," Pique stated.
"Germany are a great team with great players. It will be very difficult to stop them because they are on very good form and have to be motivated after their convincing wins against England [4-1] and Argentina [4-0]. We also come from a strong background. We have demonstrated that we are strong in defence and we have not conceded in our past two matches. It will be difficult."
Finally, Pique called for Spain to start taking control of their matches.
"We should control our matches better. There are phases in which we get caught on the back foot and we suffer at those times," he noted.
"We also have to be more efficient in front of goal. We have struggled a bit to score and have won matches by only one goal. We need to be more convincing up front to score more goals.
"Our intention is to keep making history. The objective is to win the World Cup. We would leave with a bitter taste if we were left on the doorstep."
"Torres will score in this World Cup and I hope he does so in the semi-finals," he said, according to AS.
| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £10.50 | Draw £90.00 | 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 £10.83 | Draw £100.00 | China £210.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £10.80 | Draw £100.00 | China £260.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Spain £10.70 | Draw £122.00 | China £270.00 |
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The light-hearted defender also praised David Villa's outstanding form in the tournament so far.
"When a striker is on a streak, everything goes in," the Barcelona man said.
"His goal against Paraguay as a perfect example: the ball hit both posts and under different circumstances, it may well have bounced out. But David would not be denied."
The centre-back admitted that Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against Germany has little to do with the historic duel between the sides in the Euro 2008 final.
"There are new players on both sides that did not play that final. It will be a unique match and we intend to win it," Pique stated.
"Germany are a great team with great players. It will be very difficult to stop them because they are on very good form and have to be motivated after their convincing wins against England [4-1] and Argentina [4-0]. We also come from a strong background. We have demonstrated that we are strong in defence and we have not conceded in our past two matches. It will be difficult."
Finally, Pique called for Spain to start taking control of their matches.
"We should control our matches better. There are phases in which we get caught on the back foot and we suffer at those times," he noted.
"We also have to be more efficient in front of goal. We have struggled a bit to score and have won matches by only one goal. We need to be more convincing up front to score more goals.
"Our intention is to keep making history. The objective is to win the World Cup. We would leave with a bitter taste if we were left on the doorstep."
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