標題: BENITEZ: I'M SO PROUD OF MY FAB FOUR [打印本頁] 作者: puma8811 時間: 2008-5-25 05:50 PM 標題: BENITEZ: I'M SO PROUD OF MY FAB FOUR
The home countries might have missed out on Austria and Switzerland – but there'll still be a distinctly English, or should that be Scouse, feel to one of the sides gunning for Euro 2008 glory this summer.
Spain boss Luis Aragones has selected no fewer than four Liverpool players in his 23-man squad: Alvaro Arbeloa, Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso and Pepe Reina.
Neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona can match this feat, so it's understandable Anfield boss Rafa Benitez is feeling especially proud right now.
Asked about the latest Fab Four to depart Merseyside for global, or at least European, domination, he said: "I will be supporting Spain, of course, because we have some very good players, including four from this club.
"As a manager of an English club, to see your players in any national team is really important. To see so many of our players in the Spain squad - I think we must be really proud because it is a special situation and one which is really good for us.
"It means that we are bringing in players with quality who are good enough to play international football, so that is very positive.
"The four Liverpool players who have been selected have shown the quality that they have.
"We know that Iker Casillas is a very good goalkeeper but for me Pepe Reina is as good as him.
"Arbeloa will have his chance because he can play in more than one position and he has more experience now, and Xabi, as we know, is a top-class player who can be at the same level of the other midfielders.
"Finally, we have seen how good Torres can be during the last season.
"Spain has a lot of quality. Everyone talks about the fact that they have not won a major tournament but statistics like this are there to be broken – maybe this will be their time."
There's little doubt where the majority of Liverpudlians will pledge their support this summer, and the thought of Scousers backing his countryman has a certain symmetry for Benitez - for it is he who is largely responsible for a new generation of Liverpool fans in Spain.
He explained: "In the first year we won the Champions League and many people in Spain were supporting us in the final and the other games.
"I think there are a lot of people in Spain who support us. Everyone has a first club – Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia, Villarreal, whoever – and their second club now is normally Liverpool."
Benitez's view that Anfield is a source of great interest in Spain is backed up by popular journalist Guillem Balague.
He said: "The interest in Liverpool has grown steadily in Spain since Benitez first arrived at Anfield.
"The fact that the manager of Liverpool Football Club was a Spaniard got everyone's attention and then the Spanish players came – the likes of Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Josemi and Antonio Nunez. That made the interest levels grow some more.
"But this season that interest has gone to a new level and it is all because of one man – Fernando Torres.
"Everyone in Spain has been following his performances for Liverpool and now Liverpool are on Spanish television more than ever before and journalists like me are asked to write even more about Benitez, Torres and the other Spaniards at Anfield.
"It is a phenomenon to have so much interest in an English club in Spain and Liverpool are undoubtedly most people's second favourite team. Some even regard it as the unofficial 21st team in La Liga."
Many expect Torres in particular to set Euro 2008 alight after a stunning debut season in England which saw him net 33 goals.
Balague, though, sounds a note of caution.
"It will be more difficult for him with the national team, there is no question about that," he insists.
"The tempo the national team plays is much slower than the one Torres has got used to in England, so he will have to adapt.
"It is the same for Cesc Fabregas. English football suits them because their teams play in a style that brings the best out of them. I'm not so sure that this will be the case with Spain.
"Liverpool play to Torres' strengths but that is not necessarily the case with Spain. But, having said that, Torres has a lot of confidence at the moment and he could still do really well despite this."
