Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has defended his role in Gavi’s ACL injury.
The Barcelona midfielder faces 12 months out after being injured while with Spain.
De la Fuente recalled: “Barcelona didn’t ask me not to let Gavi play in the second game and I don’t know that they called the Federation. When they are with us the players must only think about the national team, just as when they leave they must concentrate only on their own club.
“We only wanted to use him for 45′; we always give priority to the player’s health. All the players called up want to play every match, especially Gavi: the day after the match against Cyprus, he wanted to train with a normal session instead of recovering.”
The national team coach spoke about the moments following Gavi’s injury: “I spoke to him at half-time and he told me that after the first tackle he had nothing. Doctors noted no knee problems and allowed him to continue playing. If we had understood that the injury was evident or if the player had warned us, he would not have stayed even half a second on the pitch.
“Doctors’ opinions? It’s been a while that I don’t listen to or read the media, I live more peacefully. It was an accident: football is a maximum risk activity, as happened with Yeremy Pino in training. Fatigue? All footballers want to play.”
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