Jordi Alba: Spain are lucky to have influential Andres Iniesta

16 June 2016 13:23

Spain defender Jordi Alba admits even their multi-talented side are lucky to have Andres Iniesta.

The Barcelona midfielder was man of the match in their opening Group D win over Czech Republic, capping his display by laying on the cross for Gerard Pique's late winner.

Iniesta, a World Cup and two-time European Championship winner, is the man who makes Spain tick - much as he does for his club side - and Alba accepts he is the one they turn to in difficult times.

"We know the influence he has in the game," he told a press conference.

"There's no need to dodge the subject. He's important for us.

"Regardless of where he plays he's key in the national team and in his club.

"When we're stuck, he sums up all the conditions to create danger.

"He's a different player to the rest. We're lucky to have him as a team-mate."

Spain's defence of their title continues against Turkey, who lost 1-0 to Croatia in their opener.

That puts Alba, Pique, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets up against their Barcelona team-mate Arda Turan.

The Catalan club's left-back knows all about the Turkey captain's qualities.

"He's a very important player. Barcelona signed him, despite having the bad luck of a sanction (a transfer ban which meant Turan could not play for six months until the suspension had expired)," Alba added.

"Whenever he's come on he's done phenomenally. He's a vital player and an idol in his home country.

"He'll probably be looking forward to it. He's always dangerous, I'm sure he'll be motivated."

Turan is motivated, not by the thought of facing his team-mates but by a desire to improve after being criticised for his display against Croatia.

"Personally, I played badly and I was ineffective. However, such things can happen in life," the 29-year-old told Euro2016.com.

"I'll try my best to do better in the next match but I really find it hard to understand the way people respond to me.

"I've worn this jersey over 90 times. I have played badly a few times - you could count them on the fingers of one hand - and I'm just trying to stand tall for my country and my national team."

Turan also expects the overall team performance to improve now the first game is out of the way.

"We don't have many players who have played at this level," he added.

"It's natural that it might have affected us. I hope those nerves won't affect us this time.

"Spain are the favourites - they will have more of the ball - but, they will still only play with 11 players like us. We're going to fight until the end.

"We're going to try our hardest to get a point; if we can do that, our chances of going through are very high."

Source: PA