Villa delighted to be back in Spain football squad

TIL Desk Sports/ Spain international striker David Villa spoke of his delight at receiving a shock call up from Spain coach Julen Lopetegui for the upcoming football World Cup qualifying matches against Italy and Liechtenstein.

The Italy game on Saturday will decide whether the Spanish directly book their ticket for the 2018 World Cup finals or will need to go through the play-offs. With Diego Costa unavailable Lopetegui handed a recall to the 35-year-old, who had not represented his country since 2014 and who now plays with New York City FC in the Major League Soccer.

“I’m delighted to be back. I am one of the group and aim to give everything I’ve got for a win against Italy,” Villa said on Tuesday. He admitted that in the three years since his last game things had changed with Lopetegui replacing Vicente del Bosque and young players arriving.

Villa said that the changes made it difficult to guarantee overnight success:”You have to let things work, look at the quality in the squad, and have patience. I hope that we’ll have another great era,” he said.