Del Bosque hails magnificent De Gea and says choosing 23 players will be tough

Vicente del Bosque has hailed the performance of David de Gea after the Manchester United stopper helped Spain beat Ukraine 1-0 on Monday. 

With La Roja already qualified, Del Bosque made a number of changes to his starting lineup.

All of those who came in — including goal scored Mario Gaspar — performed well, but the Spain boss reserved particular praise for De Gea and Bayern Munich’s Thiago Alcantara.  

“The experience was a good one with all the changes we were able to make,” he said after the game. 

“Ukraine played really well. David de Gea was great — so was Thiago. 

“We have good players and from here our work is simpler, we are happy. It will be a problem to choose just 23 players for Euro 2016, but there’s still a long way to go until then.” 

Del Bosque also added that he feels Ukraine, who will now face a two-legged play-off in November, deserve a spot at next summer’s European Championships with La Roja.

“I think Ukraine have a style and personality that not many teams have,” Del Bosque stated. 

“I wish them the best in the play-offs and hope we see them in France.”