Luis Enrique believes Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets could play another FIFA World Cup after selecting the midfielder in his squad for the upcoming tournament in Qatar.
The 34-year-old defensive midfielder will be competing in his fourth FIFA World Cup, having already earned 139 Spain caps. He is the only member of the 2022 squad that was part of the team that won the tournament in South Africa in 2010.
Spain have not won a knockout game in the competition since then, with Enrique picking a squad that mixes experience and youth. He has once again selected Busquets, who Enrique managed at Camp Nou between 2014-2017.
Enrique guided Barcelona to a historic treble in 2015 and is clearly well aware of what a good player the legendary Busquets is. The veteran midfielder has been criticized by some of his own supporters this term. However, Enrique explained his desire to see Busquets carry on for a good while.
The Spain boss told the press after announcing his FIFA World Cup squad (as per Reshad Rahman of 433):
“I’m not kidding when I say I want Busquets to play another World Cup, I want to convince him. I don’t see a better player in his position as per our style of playing.”
Former Barcelona coach insists his Spain squad has enough experience to win FIFA World Cup
Enrique decided to omit big players such as Sergio Ramos and Thiago Alcantara from his FIFA World Cup squad, insisting that he needs more physical players.
The schedule appears brutal for teams in this year’s competition and Enrique insists he cannot take any chances with his Spain squad. The former Barcelona boss told reporters (per The Metro):
“The message is of thanks. I know it’s a disappointment. They deserved to be here, but only 26 can be in the squad. If it were a normal World Cup, we would integrate the physical needs into the training, but halfway through the season we are not going to work on the physical level of a player.”
He added:
“I’m not going to go into the players that aren’t on the list. I thank everyone who has helped us get here, but now the important ones are the 26 called up. We have a lot of young people, but also veterans. There is a good mix. Being a World Cup in the middle of the season, we will not work on a physical level, but on a tactical level. Everyone can play and it will depend on their condition and what they teach us.”