WORLD CUP 2010: Let me play! Fernando Torres begs for Spain starting place in World Cup final

By Ian Ladyman for the Daily Mail in Johannesburg
Updated: 13:50 EDT, 10 July 2010

Fernando Torres has had a private meeting with Spain coach Vicente del Bosque and begged to be allowed to play in the World Cup final.

Torres is sweating on a place in Sunday night's line-up against Holland after enduring a dreadful, scoreless tournament and after being left out of the team that beat Germany in Wednesday night's semi-final in Durban. 

Please boss: Fernando Torres is begging Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque for a place in his World Cup final starting line-up

It is understood the Liverpool striker spoke personally to coach Del Bosque at Spain's training base two hours outside Johannesburg and told him he will not let him down if he is reinstated for the final here at Soccer City.

Torres was left out against Germany after being substituted on the hour in Spain's two previous knock-out matches against Paraguay and Portugal. He was replaced by Barcelona midfielder Pedro against Germany, with David Villa being moved in from the left wing to play through the middle.

Del Bosque has not told his players yet who will play on Sunday but it is understood that Torres is now likely to be reinstated after looking considerably sharper than he had previously during his brief run-out from the bench against Germany.

In the Spanish camp there is enormous sympathy for Torres, who came into the biggest tournament of his career on the back of a season of injuries at Anfield and has not looked remotely like scoring in any of the games he has played over the last four weeks.

Former Liverpool team-mate Xabi Alonso said: 'He is a great footballer and a great guy. We have absolute trust in him. Great players are still great players, even when they haven't scored a goal.'

Torres didn't find out he was not starting Wednesday's semifinal until three hours before kick-off and Del Bosque is likely to employ the same tactic this weekend.

Even though Spain have never played in a World Cup final, they will start as favourites tomorrow.

Nevertheless, the threat of one of the players of the tournament, Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder, cannot be ignored and on Friday Spanish defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets claimed that stopping the Inter Milan playmaker could be the secret to a Spanish victory.

Busquets said: 'We will try and stop him. It will be partly my job but I will try to do it with the help of the team. It will involve being tight and close to him and trying not to leave him time to think because if he does then he will easily play a good ball to a team-mate who's in a dangerous position for us. 

He's the man: Holland star Wesley Sneijder must be stopped, admits Spain's midfield enforcer Sergio Busquets

'He is a very good player and we will have to watch him. But then we will have to stop many great players if we are to get this result.

'I think the Spanish team have today reached a great level. We've played very seriously throughout the tournament and I think the other day we played our best game so far and we hope the best is yet to come.'

With Sneijder the clear threat from a Dutch team who have won every one of their games in the World Cup - the only team to do so - Sunday's game is expected to be won and lost in the centre of the field. For Spain, the Barcelona pair of Xavi and Andres Iniesta have stood out and if Busquets will have his hands full dealing with Sneijder then Dutch midfield players Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong will face an equally great challenge.

De Jong, of Manchester City, is expected to return after suspension but it is former Barcelona player Van Bommel who has emerged as one of the tournament's most controversial characters.

Key figure: Mark van Bommel will have his hands full with Xavi and Iniesta

The son-in-law of Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk, the Bayern Munich captain has been criticised for the combative nature of his play and he will certainly find himself on the radar of English referee Howard Webb.

Van Bommel, who was frozen out under previous coach Marco van Basten, said: 'There was a lot of pressure on me when I returned to this team. I couldn't afford to play a single bad game. But I think I have more than justified my position.

'Spain play a spectacular game and it will be very difficult. We will have to break their midfield and stop their playmakers from playing.

'We are ready for a big battle. To be honest, I would have preferred to play Germany and we will need to play our best match for two years to defeat Spain.

'Xavi and Iniesta are great talents. They are the best of their type in the world. But if we win this final we will have deserved it. 'The great thing about this Dutch team is that we won six games and have got to the final and haven't even played our best football yet.'

Sunday's referee Webb also oversaw Spain's first game, the 1-0 defeat by Switzerland. Busquets said: 'We are not worried about the ref.

'It's always difficult and if he's in the final it means it's because he deserves it and he will be prepared.'

Meanwhile, it emerged on Friday that the Spanish team hotel was broken into on the day of their semi-final in Durban and Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez were robbed of cash and documents.

● FIFA was warned before this year's World Cup of fears that Nigeria's team could be vulnerable to match-fixing, it was claimed last night. The BBC's Newsnight programme reported that a UEFA investigator raised concerns with the world's governing body.

Newsnight claimed that a member of UEFA's disciplinary services unit - which is responsible for investigating match-fixing - first became suspicious during qualifying rounds of the World Cup and later contacted FIFA. Nigeria were knocked out in the group stages.