Torres, Navas and Pedro out for Spain
MADRID - Fernando Torres, Pedro and Jesus Navas have all been forced to pulled out of Spain's squad for their Euro 2012 qualifiers against Lithuania and Scotland, the Spanish FA said on Monday.
With Spain already missing key midfielder Xavi, coach Vicente del Bosque chose to call up four players, with Bruno Soriano and Borja Valero of Villarreal and Valencia's Aritz Aduriz and Pablo Hernandez joining the squad.
Striker Torres suffered a groin strain in Liverpool's 2-1 home defeat to Blackpool on Sunday, while Pedro has been ruled out for three weeks with a thigh muscle injury picked up during Barcelona's 1-1 draw at home to Real Mallorca.
Navas was a late withdrawal from Sevilla's squad to play Atletico Madrid on Sunday, suffering from a thigh muscle injury.
Del Bosque has opted for four relative newcomers with his replacements, rewarding players from Valencia and Villarreal for their flying starts to La Liga. The clubs lie first and second respectively after six matches.
Aduriz, a powerful 29-year-old centre forward, has yet to win a cap, while his team mate, winger Pablo, has two caps and one goal to his name.
Villarreal midfielder Bruno made his international debut with Spain in Mexico back in August, while former West Bromwich Albion midfielder Valero is uncapped.
The world champions, who won their opening Group I game 4-0 in Liechtenstein, take on Lithuania in Salamanca on Friday and travel to play Scotland in Glasgow the following Tuesday.
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