Soldado plays his way into Euros

Roberto Soldado probably played his way into the Spain squad for Euro 2012 on Wednesday night, netting a hat-trick in the home side's 5-0 win over Venezuela having come off the bench at half time. The Valencia forward, who has scored 20 goals in all competitions this season, had not played for the national side since featuring in a pair of European Championship qualifiers in 2007 but took his opportunity in sensational fashion.

"Soldado finished off what his teammates created for him and he did so very well," said Spain coach Vicente del Bosque. "It would be unjust to make useless comparisons with other players just now. We'll look at what Roberto Soldado did tonight with objectivity and we have two months to assess our options and those in good condition will be in the squad."

Whether Del Bosque's words will offer any form of comfort to Fernando Torres is doubtful. The Chelsea striker has not found the net at all since last October and, unlike Soldado, is playing for a club in a state of flux. What is not in doubt is that David Villa will travel to the finals if he recovers sufficiently from the fractured shin he sustained at the Club World Cup, while Fernando Llorente has made the back-up striker slot his own. That leaves one space for a forward, based on Del Bosque's latest squad, which contained three attackers and 12 midfielders.

Spain is capable of playing without a fixed striker, and Soldado showed against Venezuela that he can fit into a fluid attacking system with ease if Del Bosque omits a traditional number 9.