Chelsea strikerTorres grateful for Spain chance

FERNANDO TORRES has spoken of his delight to be back in the Spain fold and is determined to make the most of his opportunity with World Cup spots up for grabs.

A combination of injury and disappointing form for Chelsea had seen Torres lose his place in the Spain set-up over the last year but the striker earned a recall to the provisional 30-manWorld Cup squad that coach Vicente del Bosque named earlier this month.

Torres, 30, was also one of the players retained by Del Bosque on Sunday for their upcoming pre-World Cup friendly with Bolivia.

The former Atletico Madrid and Liverpool striker, who scored in the finals of both Euro 2008 and Euro 2012, told the Spanish press yesterday: “I knew that anything could happen. Yesterday, I was only hoping to hear my name.

“I knew that I could’ve been here or not, but now I have a better chance of being in Brazil. It’s been a difficult year but I finished the season very well.”

Three of Torres’ main rivals for a striking berth were left out, with Alvaro Negredo and Fernando Llorente omitted along with the injured Diego Costa. l Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has signed a new two-year deal to remain in charge until after the 2016 European Championship. l QPR midfielder Niko Kranjcar will miss out on theWorld Cup for Croatia through injury.

The 29-year-old limped off 33 minutes into the Hoops’ 1-0 Championship play- off victory over Derby at Wembley on Saturday with a hamstring injury.

Fernando Torres.