Source: Xinhua
06-25-2008 09:23
Special Report: 2008 European ChampionshipsVIENNA, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Spanish playmaker Marcos Senna seemed to be tired out by Sunday's extra-time play against Italy and declared Tuesday that he preferred not to play Thursday's Euro2008 semifinal without complete fitness.
"If I am not 100 percent fit, then I would want someone else to play," he told media at a daily briefing at the team's training base in Austria.
The Brazilian-born midfielder has had an outstanding tournament so far, but the quarterfinal match against Italy, which the Spaniards won 4-2 on penalty shootout after 0-0 in 120 minutes, left him feeling drained.
"The overtime was very tiring, but I was confident about taking a penalty and that is why I went up," said Senna, who's now only thinking of the team reaching the final here on Sunday.
Spain next face Russia and Senna meets Andrei Avashin for the first time after the latter, reckoned one of the best midfielders after Russia's impressive quarterfinal win over the Netherlands in extra time, missed out on the opening game between the two sides.
"There is not much left to say about him (Avashin). We all saw the game against Holland. We will begin to watch more videos too, but we must not worry about things and only consider our own game," commented Senna.
The Villarreal player has also been asked about his reported links with several Italian clubs, including Juventus.
"I am pleased if there is interest from Juve, a team that everyone knows is huge, but I do not want to think about that now. I am only focused on the championships," he said.
Editor:Zhang Ning
