Del Bosque: Spain won't settle for Croatia draw

Spain's 4-0 drubbing of Ireland and Italy's 1-1 stalemate with Croatia means even if the Italians beat the Irish, who are already out, they would be eliminated as long as the other match is a scoring draw of two goals each or more.

Italy cried foul when they were eliminated from the 2004 European Championship in similar circumstances after a 2-2 draw between Sweden and Denmark sent the Scandinavian neighbours through from their group and the Italians out.

"We are sportsmen and both the Croats and us will go out to win," Del Bosque told a news conference after his side's impressive performance against the Irish in Gdansk on Thursday.

"I have not made any calculations and we should be interested only in victory," he added.

Del Bosque praised Fernando Torres after he deployed the striker from the start against Ireland and he responded with two goals, including the opener on four minutes that set the world and European champions on their way to a dominant win.

Torres was included in place of Cesc Fabregas, who normally plays in midfield but was given a roving attacking role in Sunday's 1-1 comeback draw with Italy and scored the equaliser.

Against the Irish, Fabregas came on for Torres with around a quarter of an hour left and crashed home Spain's fourth goal off a post from a tight angle in the 83rd minute.

"We have a squad of 23 players and all of them are capable of playing," Del Bosque said.

"We have the same confidence in Fabregas that we had four days ago but we also have other resources that we have to make the most of," he added.

"Fernando Torres is an option. We had possession of the ball and we had to make the best use of his speed and movement.

"He played the ideal match and those people who thought he could play the first game as well are also partly right."

Spain and Croatia have four points each from two matches, with Italy on two and Ireland on zero.