Spain confident of ending title drought despite Villa injury

Vienna (Austria): Spain doesn't think the absence of injured striker David Villa will keep it from winning the nation's first title in 44 years when it takes on Germany in the European Championship final.

Midfielder Xabi Alonso said Friday that Spain has such depth of talent on the bench that losing Villa _ the tournament's top scorer with four goals _ isn't going to hurt the team's chances.

''I don't think it will be a big problem for us,'' said Xabi Alonso, a second-half substitute in Spain's 3-0 semifinal win over Russia on Thursday. ''Whoever is coming from the bench is doing a great job and that is as important as who is starting.''

Villa, who's scored the only hat trick at Euro 2008 against Russia in Spain's 4-1 win in the group stage two weeks ago, said he would likely miss the final after pulling a hamstring muscle while taking a free kick in the first half at Ernst Happel Stadium.

''I'm a little sad that I won't be there to take part, but it's better that a teammate who is fit plays instead of me, particularly as my injury has left me limping quite badly,'' Villa said.

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Spain's team doctor Jesus Jimenez said Friday that Villa has a small rupture in his right hamstring that will take between five-to-10 days to heal.

''He's been ruled out of the final,'' Jimenez told reporters.

Midfielder Santi Cazorla said Spain had enough reserve talent to adjust to the situation.

''We have great players in every position. Whoever plays will do a good job,'' Cazorla said.

Coach Luis Aragones inserted Cesc Fabregas to replace Villa and boost Spain's midfield, leaving Fernando Torres as the sole attacker. The move worked, with Spain scoring three goals in the second half, two of them set up by Fabregas.

Aragones was confident his team could beat the Germans, saying he didn't think they played that well in their semifinal against Turkey.

''They were not that strong against the Turks, but they have great players up front,'' Aragones said Friday outside the team's hotel in Vienna.

Alonso said Spain was ''delighted'' with its performance against Russia.

''The result was brilliant,'' he said. ''Hopefully on Sunday, we will repeat another performance like that. Let's hope we can play a good match and lift the cup, which would be historic.''

Spain has only won one major title: the 1964 European Championship. It reached the final of the same tournament 20 years later, but lost to France.

Germany, on the other hand, has been crowned European champion three times and world champion another three. Furthermore, Spain has only beaten Germany once in seven competitive matches, with four victories for the Germans and two draws.

''They know how to win tournaments, they know how to play these games and we know we have be careful because they are the favorites,'' Torres said.

The Liverpool striker isn't having a great tournament. He has only scored one goal _ in the group stage against Sweden _ and was replaced by Dani Guiza in the second half Thursday after missing a string of chances.

Guiza scored Spain's second goal just four minutes after coming on, but refused to speculate on whether he would take Torres' spot in the lineup.

''It would be a dream to play the final with the national team,'' Guiza said Friday. ''But it's the coach who makes the decisions.''

Brazilian-born midfielder Marcos Senna said Spain will have to look out for Germany's counterattacks.

''They are fast and deadly in this kind of game,'' Senna said in a Euro 2008 online chat. ''I think both teams will try to do what they know. Spain will try to keep the possession of the ball and Germany will try to be a block and use the counterattacks to harm us.''