Vicente del Bosque: Spain wanted Belgium friendly to go ahead

Belgium called off Tuesday’s game after the government raised the security threat level amid an investigation related to last week’s Paris attacks.

Del Bosque said the players were “calm and wanted to play” but understood the reasons for the cancellation. He said nobody involved in the match liked it but nothing could be done because “it was a matter of security”.

There were high expectations for the match, which featured Fifa’s top-ranked team, Belgium, against the defending European champions. Both sides are considered title contenders for next year’s European Championship in France and the game would have given Del Bosque and the Belgium coach, Marc Wilmots, a chance to see how their squads measured up.

“We wanted to play the game, but it’s a matter of security,” Del Bosque said before Spain returned home from Brussels on Tuesday. “The players were calm, they wanted to play, but now the sooner we return to Madrid the better.

“The Belgian government didn’t think it could guarantee our safety and the safety of the fans. Nobody likes this because we are here to play a game and to entertain the fans.”

France has identified a Belgian man as the mastermind of the Paris attacks that killed 129 people on Friday. His current whereabouts remain unknown. A major police operation took place in a Brussels neighbourhood on Monday, although it failed to yield any arrests related to the attacks.

The ministry of the interior recommended the cancellation of the friendly on its website after raising the threat level earlier in the day.

“We deeply regret that such a friendly match between two motivated teams had to be cancelled so late and we understand the disappointment of numerous fans,” the Belgian federation said in a statement. “However, taking into account these exceptional circumstances, we couldn’t take any risk in the matter of the security of our players and supporters.”

Spanish football officials did not say whether there was a direct threat linked to the presence of Spain’s national team in Belgium. “There were no problems at the hotel,” Del Bosque said. “We left as soon as possible, with tranquillity.”

Del Bosque on Monday had dismissed any security concerns related to the friendly, saying he was not afraid. The Spain defender Marc Bartra said the players were calm and would not be going to Belgium if they did not think it was safe.

Wilmots indicated that he felt the right decision had been reached. “A human life is worth more than a game of football. I was informed at 11.30pm last night that we weren’t going to play the game, and this morning everyone else was informed.

“Thousands of matches are played all the time, one more or less makes no difference.”

Belgium is also set to host the Davis Cup final against Great Britain in Ghent later this month.