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Del Bosque: Casillas’ Spain squad spot is safe

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque said Friday that goalkeeper and skipper Iker Casillas will definitely go to the Confederations Cup in Brazil in June even if he does not regain his starting place with Real Madrid.

Del Bosque: Casillas' Spain squad spot is safe
Del Bosque and Casillas in London in 2011. Photo: AFP

"He will be with us barring any extraordinary occurrence," said Del Bosque.

"It would be good if he were playing (with Real) but there is only a month-and-a-half left" to the end of the season. "That will not impact upon his physical fitness," insisted Del Bosque in comments made in Madrid.

Casillas, 31, has won 143 caps and was a mainstay of the Spanish side which lifted the Euro titles in 2008 and 2012 as well as the 2010 World Cup, which booked their berth at the Confed Cup which starts in Brazil on June 15th.

But he has not played since January 23 and lost his place at  Real after he broke a bone in his left hand playing against Valencia.

Since then, Real coach Jose Mourinho has preferred Diego Lopez in goal even though Casillas is back to fitness.

Del Bosque said earlier in the week in Barcelona that "we have a lot of love" for Casillas and on Friday he said he found it "a shame that some Real supporters have seen fit to criticise him".

But he said it was for a coach to decide whether to pick a player or not for their club.

Mourinho said earlier Casillas would start Saturday's league match against Betis on the bench with Lopez again preferred.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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