Del Bosque's Raul riddle

Del Bosque: Sticking to his guns

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Spain coach Vincente del Bosque admits the issue of whether Raul should be in his squad continues to trail the European champions.

The stylish Spanish claimed a record breaking 15th straight victory at the weekend, but still the debate over Real Madrid legend Raul rages.

Former Spain coach Luis Aragones was persistently quizzed, and often criticised, over his decision to drop Raul and the same has happened to his successor Del Bosque.

Since being axed Raul's response has been emphatic, scoring 47 goals in all competitions, as Madrid won the league title in 2007-08.

But with Fernando Torres and David Villa having struck up an almost telepathic partnership in his absence, Del Bosque, who has overseen Spain's last 13 wins, is loath to change a winning line-up.

Fierce debate

"He's someone who has donned the Spanish jersey more than 100 times," said Del Bosque.

"In other countries, with this fact, you have to be very careful. But we thought that what had been done without Raul worked and so we continued on with what was given to us.

"It's a little of everything. The debate is a football one, because he's still playing at Real Madrid.

"And if Real Madrid has two strikers and one of them is Raul - that's a fact."

"It wasn't an easy decision, and I'm sure that we probably didn't act so well with him but we did what we believed was convenient.

"We had a group that already had good relations and there was a way of playing that was practically untouchable and that we didn't have to change much."