Spain must put faith in proven strategy

Vicente del Bosque's tactics were questioned by his predecessor as
coach, Luis Aragones, after last week's 1-0 defeat by Switzerland, who
suggested the European champions had not been ambitious enough from the
start.Del Bosque deployed David Villa as a lone striker in that game
and although Spain dominated possession they found it hard to penetrate
their opponent's well-marshaled defense.He brought Fernando Torres
back into the starting lineup in a two-pronged attack with Villa in
Monday's 2-0 defeat of Honduras and is likely to repeat the tactic
against the Chileans in Pretoria on Friday."Everyone has the right
to express an opinion and give their view on how the team is playing,"
Iniesta told a news conference at Spain's training base on Wednesday."But
we can't get dragged into a situation where we have doubts or into an
argument over what one or the other person is saying," added the
midfielder, who looks to be winning his race to be fit."We are clear
about what we have to do and are confident about our chances and
anything beyond that is unimportant."As it stands, Chile top the
group on six points from two matches, Spain and Switzerland both have
three points in second and third respectively and Honduras have none.A
win for Spain, one of the pre-tournament favorites, would put them
through to the last 16, where they will almost certainly face either
five-times champions Brazil or Portugal, depending on the final
standings in Group G.Ivory Coast still have a chance of qualifying
but would need to thrash North Korea and hope the Portuguese lose to
Brazil.Chile, who need only a draw to go through, have two key
players suspended — holding midfielder Carlos Carmona, who played well
in their first two games, and playmaker Matias Fernandez.Rodrigo
Millar is likely to come back in for Carmona and Jorge Valdivia is
expected to replace Fernandez, playing just behind Humberto Suazo.The
shaven-headed striker is still shaking off a hamstring injury but
played 45 minutes against Switzerland.Central defender Waldo Ponce
told a news conference on Wednesday the team were unlikely to sit back,
raising the prospect of an open game with plenty of chances for both
sides."We've never changed our playing style," Ponce said."We
play the same way in our friendlies, in the matches against the reserves
here in training and that's the best way to take on a great team," he
added."Our coach would never tell us to go out and protect a draw or
play for a draw, because it never works out like that."