Ireland legend Bryan Hamilton backs Fernando Torres to carry Spain hopes

Dubai: Northern Ireland legend Bryan Hamilton has tipped a rejuvenated Fernando Torres to carry the hopes of a tired-looking Spain at the Euro 2012 tournament starting this week.

“Torres is the one player who might do well for Spain as he has been suitably rested and he will want to prove a point as well,” Hamilton told Gulf News at The Sevens.

“I love Spain, but I don’t think they can make it due to general fatigue of the Barcelona players who have had a tough season. They have great quality and are wonderful to watch. But they’ve had an indifferent season as they’ve lost La Liga and the Champions League. And this has been disappointing for their high standards,” he added.

“On the plus side for Spain, you just feel that those players [FC Barcelona] will come good during the Euro as they have that kind of quality and they may come alive again with Torres at the top.

“I feel Spain will be an unbelievably tough side for anybody and it will be very foolish to say that they don’t have a real chance of winning the Euro.”

Hamilton is a regular in Dubai visiting his son Gareth who is based here as head coach at the Arsenal Football School. During his playing career, Hamilton Sr gained 50 caps for Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1980 and later went on to manage the national squad for four years. He is currently a media pundit for Eurosport, BBC Radio 5 Live, Setanta Sports, Today FM, Sky Sports and Anglia Television.

‘Not a settled squad’

Hamilton did not wager too much on England given the changes that have taken place recently. “It has been an interesting time following the departure of [Fabio] Capello and the entry of Roy Hodgson, who has been reasonably successful at the club level and appears to have a good relationship with the national team players. The expectations at this minute are low and I am yet to hear anybody saying that England is going to win it this time,” Hamilton observed.

“They still have a lot of quality of players and they are not a settled squad at the moment. But you just feel they may come good as the competition progresses,” he added.

And then there is the normal mix of nations such as Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, France and Italy who can be genuine contenders if they do get everything in place before the competition. “European football is normally the highest quality and you only get the best nations vying to be the best in Europe. This time all groups are evenly balanced and things are getting tight among teams at that level. It is going to be an interesting competition this time,” Hamilton said.