Sergio Busquets believes Spain are more than capable of dealing with the threat of Wesley Sneijder when they take on Holland in Sunday’s World Cup final in Johannesburg.
The Holland playmaker has been one of the stars in South Africa so far, with his five goals and attacking intent proving one of the keys to the Dutch reaching their third final.
But Busquets, who is a important part of the Spain midfield alongside the likes of Xabi Alonso, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, feels they can neutralise the threat of the Inter Milan player, as they have dealt with other players in the competition thus far.
”He is a very good player,” the Barcelona midfielder said. “He has showed that with every team he has played with, and also demonstrated this by winning the treble with Inter.
”We have to stop him together as a team, by not giving him space or any time to think, just like we did with Mesut Ozil.
”We know how dangerous he is and if we don’t do these things, he can be very dangerous and set up the strikers of his team.
”But as I said, we’ve already stopped other major players in the tournament and hopefully with Sneijder it will be the same result.”
The European champions have not yet hit top form at the World Cup, but have still managed to reach the final.
After winning Group H, they then edged out Portugal and Paraguay, before their renowned passing game seemed to be return in the 1-0 semi-final triumph over Germany.
Busquets is pleased with his own showing in the tournament, saying: “I feel very well and I’m happy with how the tournament has gone so far.
”I am still very young and I feel everyday much better, that I am learning.”
The 21-year-old, who only made his international debut in late 2008, also hailed the influence of his team-mates in helping him settle in after taking over the holding role from Marcos Senna.
He added: “It’s a big responsibility to replace Senna, but I am sharing the team with very good players.
”I’m happy with what I am doing, but I must say that without them I wouldn’t be doing such a good job.
”I hope the next game I will be even better and we can win the game.”
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