Spain gets official reception in Argentina

By foxsports
Published

Spain's World Cup winners were greeted by Argentina President Cristina Fernandez at her official government residence in downtown Buenos Aires on Monday .

Twenty of the 23 members of Spain's World Cup squad - and coach Vicente del Bosque - made the trip to Buenos Aries ahead of their Tuesday friendly against Argentina before 65,000 fans at River Plate's Monumental stadium.

Several nations including Brazil and Uruguay have won the World Cup and played afterward in Argentina, but they did not receive an official welcome like this one.

Fernandez reminded the Spanish players of the special cultural and linguistic links between the two countries, saying: ''Spain is not just any country for us. We feel very close.''

Fernandez invited the Argentina team to a similar reception after it was ousted 4-0 by Germany in the World Cup quarterfinals at South Africa. She reportedly did not receive a reply from the Argentine Football Federation and then-coach Diego Maradona.

Maradona has been replaced on an interim basis by Sergio Batista, who was Maradona's teammate on Argentina's 1986 World Cup-winning side.