This morning the Spanish Football Federation published the much-anticipated preliminary squad for the World Cup. Del Bosque has included all of the 2010 winners with the exception of the injury ridden Alvaro Arbeloa.
Several new faces have been included with De Gea, Carvajal, Alberto Moreno, Iturraspe and Diego Costa all making the cut. The definitive squad of 23 will be released on 25 May, after the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atlético.
On 25th May, 7 unlucky players will be omitted to shape the final squad. Rumors from Spain suggest that Moreno and Iturraspe will only travel if an unforeseeable incident occurs. Juanfran and Carvajal will playoff in the Champions League final to decide who get a spot on the final squad.
Mata remains a doubt while Torres, Llorente, Negredo and Villa will compete for a single ticket to Brazil. Thiago, Jesus Navas, Pique and Alba will all travel if they recover from their respective injuries.
Here is the complete squad:
Keepers: Casillas, Reina and De Gea.
Defenders: Carvajal, Juanfran, Ramos, Piqué, Albiol, Azpilicueta, Alberto Moreno and Jordi Alba.
Midfielders: Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Iturraspe, Xabi, Koke, Navas, Silva, Pedro, Mata, Javi Martínez, Thiago, Cesc and Cazorla.
Strikers: Negredo, Diego Costa, Torres, Llorente and Villa.