TOKYO, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Spain coach Luis de la Fuente was pessimistic over the prospects defender Oscar Mingueza and midfielder Dani Caballos have of recovering in time to play against in the Olympic Games after watching both limp off in the first 45 minutes of Spain's 0-0 draw against Egypt.
Mingueza lasted just 20 minutes before leaving the field with a muscle injury, while Ceballas, who had been Spain's best player until his injury, had to go off with a badly twisted ankle after a dreadful challenge, which left his ankle swelling and was only punished with a yellow card.
"We have to see how they progress, but it doesn't look good and it could be that the injuries are quite serious," said De la Fuente, who was not happy that a lot of heavy challenges by the Egyptians went unpunished.
"That is why we have a referee and the VAR in order to deal out justice. We had the criteria explained to us the other day, but I hope that in our next game we have a bit more luck with the evaluations of the actions on the pitch, because today we didn't," added the Spain coach, who was clearly annoyed Hegazy's challenge was only punished with a yellow card.
"In the meeting they explained to us what actions could be considered to be red cards and that was one of them and they didn't take the decision that they said they would take," he commented.
After failing to threaten against Egypt, Spain now have to improve when they encounter Australia on Sunday, before facing Argentina three days later.
"We know how hard it is and every game will be tough, but we have still got our moral and I'm sure the players will improve as their physical condition and play will get better," insisted De la Fuente. Enditem