When the Spain’s 23-man provisional squad was announced on Saturday, existed the mixed reactions and emotions as Vincent Del Bosque included David Villa in his World Cup trip to Brazil. This tournament would be Villa’s third World Cup and the striker also has the chance to be a regular starter as the first choice striker, Diego Costa being a victim of Hamstring injury at the moment.
Villa has been the most influential striker in La Liga for over a decade and also registered his name in the international stages as Spain top scorer (56). Adding extra kudos to these credits, the 32-year old had also been flourished as the top scorers of Euros 2008 (4) and World Cup 2010 (5, the same number as of Germany’s Thomas Mueller and Netherlands’ Wesley Sneijder).
The absence of Villa in the Euros 2012 has led the way for Del Bosque to play the false 9, with Cesc Fabregas preferred for the role. With Villa in action and Costa’s addition, it is thought that Del Bosque wouldn’t prefer false 9 once again in the World Cup.
Spending five precious years in Valencia, Villa joined Barcelona in 2010, where he won La Liga and UEFA champions league in his debut season. After his 3-year successive spell at Barcelona, Villa joined Atletico Madrid last summer, guiding the Los Colchoneros to their first title in 18 years and very closely missed the champions league title in a matter of minutes.
Being noticed for the striking ability, Villa replaced Raul as the new Spanish No.7 in 2009, the transition which caused bewilderment in Spanish football.
Though the pace of the striker has come down recently, the accuracy of long range shooting, the techniques of getting past the defenders, the fine touches inside the box and more importantly the unselfishness tenured Villa in the striking department of the world football. Villa possesses the tendency to create even miracles sometimes similar to the likes of the goal he scored against Chile in the last World Cup.
Villa’s addition to the World Cup is only because of the class and caliber of the player with the reason for omitting spaces to sentiments as Del Bosque recently spoke about his intention of picking the World Cup squad. “There are a lot of forwards (Roberto) Soldado, Llorente, Villa, Fernando Torres, players who have been a fixture in the national team but we cannot take everyone. The top players would gain chances”, the boss said a month ago.
Having scored 297 goals in 613 collective appearances in La Liga, David Villa remains as the most undervalued player of the newest century, the asset should have been renamed as the undisputed champion, the lack of media hype gaining the reason for the same.
David Villa has now officially signed with the newly formed MLS club New York City FC in a deal which will keep him at the club for three years. Gifted with enormous skills upfront the pitch, but suffered with the lack of media hype, David Villa will go the most undervalued player in the history of Spanish football.