30 May 2014

Spain hopeful of having injured players available for World Cup

4:14 pm on 30 May 2014

The Spainish football coach Vicente del Bosque is hopeful injured forwards Diego Costa and Jesus Navas will recover in time to feature for the holders at the World Cup finals starting in Brazil in just over two weeks.

Atletico Madrid's Costa has been suffering from a series of muscle injuries in recent weeks and limped out of Sunday's Champions League final against Real Madrid in the ninth minute.

Navas, of Manchester City, missed the final weeks of the Premier League season with an ankle injury.

Del Bosque has until Monday to name his final squad for the World Cup finals, when Spain, who are also the European champions, will seek to defend the title they won for the first time in South Africa four years ago.

Should Costa fail to recuperate in time, there is plenty of cover, with players like Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente and Alvaro Negredo of a similar profile.