Fernando Torres left out of Spain squad

Fernando Torres' lack of goals for Chelsea rules him out of squad

Fernando Torres has been dropped from the Spain squad for next week's friendly against Venezuela. The Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup-winning striker has been struggling for form at Chelsea, scoring four goals in all competitions this season.
With the Barcelona forward David Villa still absent with a broken leg, the Spain coach, Vicente del Bosque, has opted to include the Valencia's well performing striker Roberto Soldado and the highly-rated Athletic Bilbao youngster Iker Muniain in his 24-man squad for Wednesday's match in Malaga.
"Torres isn't doing well, and we've decided that in this case he won't come," Del Bosque said. "It hurts me to leave him out but I cannot be unfair and hold back those who have been pushing to get in."
However Del Bosque stressed there could still be changes to the squad before this summer's European Championship in Ukraine and Poland – "This list is a base for the European Championships, but it isn't definitive".
The Barcelona winger Pedro Rodriguez was also left out, along with the Real Madrid defender Raul Albiol.