Following Spain’s 1-0 loss against world champion Germany on Tuesday, coach Vicente del Bosque reflected on a poor year for the national team, which lost three of its last sixinternationals after bowing out of the 2014 World Cup in the first round.
“We are in a transition period and we want to keep looking to the future with optimism, but we are not happy witheverything,” Del Bosque said. “We cannot boast that 2014 has been a great year. We want to look forward to the future with optimism. To sum up, we are not happy with the year, for what happened at theWorld Cup in Brazil.”
Even so, del Bosque said the contest in Vigo revealed some encouraging signs, especially from certain newcomers, particularly Juventus striker Alvaro Morata andCelta playmaker Nolito. “[Morata] looked really good to me,” he said. “[Nolito] played just like he does with his club. But I do not really want to single out individuals.”
Spain’s nextscheduled Euro 2016 qualifier is not until March 27 in Las Palmas, against Ukraine.