The arrival of Sergio Busquets to the international scene has coincided with the most successful period in the history of Spanish football, as they have won 2 European championships and one World Cup title during this period. The presence of the midfielder is also extremely key as they target qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2014 automatically. Only the winner of the qualifying group makes it into the competition automatically, while the second placed team will be competing in a play-off match.
Due to the presence of France in the group, Spain are not the outright favourites to secure qualification as the winners. In fact, they have struggled to take the top spot in the group, which they achieved only recently. They will be hoping to sustain this position with back-to-back victories in the next two World Cup qualifying matches. The first will be against Finland, which will be followed by a friendly match against Chile. Manager Vicente del Bosque is likely to be without Busquets for the Finland match because the midfielder has suffered a muscle injury.
The Barcelona midfielder only recently extended his contract with the Catalan club taking his stay to at least 2018. Spain will be sure of qualification if they win the next three matches.
“The club’s medical services believe there is a risk to the muscle and have been in contact with the Spanish federation to evaluate the players’ fitness and his place in the next international games,” said his club Barcelona in an official statement. The player is not likely to be risked for the friendly match against Chile. Spain have been playing against South American opponents in a number of friendly matches recently. This is believed to be a strategy designed to acclimatise the players against South American opponents in preparation for the World Cup.