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Villa absence confirmed, Fabregas favorite to start

Simon Baskett
VIENNA
Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:11pm EDT

VIENNA (Reuters) - Spain coach Luis Aragones confirmed on Saturday that injured striker David Villa would not play against Germany in Sunday's Euro 2008 final.

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"Villa is out," Aragones told a news conference after Spain trained at the Ernst Happel stadium.

The 69-year-old hinted he would bring Cesc Fabregas into the midfield, although he did not rule out playing Daniel Guiza alongside Fernando Torres up front.

"We might have less attacking punch, but we will have more control in the midfield," he said. "I haven't decided anything yet though and I might still opt to play two strikers."

Villa, the top scorer at the tournament with four goals, strained a muscle in his right thigh late in the first half of the 3-0 win over Russia in the semi-final on Thursday.

He was replaced by Fabregas and the 21-year-old midfielder set up two of Spain's three goals in the second half.

(Reporting by Simon Baskett, editing by Ken Ferris)
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