Spain's hopes of defending their European Championship title and becoming the first national team to win three major competitions in a row were dealt a blow on Tuesday when it was revealed that Carles Puyol is set to miss the tournament due to a knee injury. Barcelona said the defender will undergo an arthroscopy on his right knee on Saturday, with an estimated recovery time of six weeks. Spain's first game is against Italy in Gdansk on 10 June.
Euro 2012 was set to be 34‑year-old Puyol's last tournament for his country. At the end of the last World Cup he was persuaded not to retire from international football. Now, retirement may be forced upon him – after 99 caps. Puyol, who scored the winning goal in the World Cup semi-final against Germany, is one of three formal "captains" in the Spain set-up, alongside Xavi Hernández and the actual captain, Iker Casillas. His absence will be a huge blow not just for his talent but his leadership skills and personality.
"His absence is extremely important but what can we do?" said the Spain coach, Vicente del Bosque. "He is a great lad. He called me last night [Monday]. Football is like that. Beyond the question of whether or not it effects my [tactical] plans, he is a charismatic and hugely important player who was on the verge of 100 caps. He was in great form. It's a real pity."
Puyol's injury will force Del Bosque to alter his defence and possibly the structure of his 23-man squad. He could move Sergio Ramos from right‑back to centre‑back, probably alongside Gerard Piqué, or use the central midfielder Javi Martínez at centre‑half, where he has played for Athletic Bilbao for most of the season. Employing Ramos or Martínez as first‑choice centre-backs rather than players that can fill in there and in other positions denies the coach a degree of flexibility when naming his squad, possibly obliging him to take another out-and-out defender.
There are not many choices. Those who have been part of previous call-ups have not been able to stake a consistent claim this season. Alvaro Domínguez has not been a regular for Atlético Madrid and Raúl Albiol, a member of the squad in South Africa, has hardly played for Real Madrid. Víctor Ruiz has had an erratic first season at Valencia. Del Bosque had also been contemplating the option of playing with three centre-backs, an idea which appears unlikely now.
Del Bosque plans to name the squad for the European Championship and the Olympic Games in three stages, with the final list not being confirmed until after the Spanish Copa del Rey final on 25 May. The Spain coach remains optimistic that he will be able to include David Villa, despite the striker not having played a single minute since breaking his leg at the World Club Championship in Japan just before Christmas.