MANCHESTER and England footbal player — While he rotted away on Chelsea's substitutes' bench this season, Juan Mata could see his chances of playing for Spain at the World Cup slip away.
Mata had already been dropped from Spain's squad once this season and with the country blessed with so many playmakers, he was in real danger of being overlooked for the trip to Brazil to defend their title.
That was one of the key reasons why Mata pressed for a move away from Chelsea once Manchester United registered its interest in signing him. "It was really important," said Mata, who completed his 37.1 million pound ($61.2 million) switch to United on Saturday. "The Spain squad is really difficult to get into, there are a lot of players fighting for positions to be in the last 23 going to Brazil.
"I hope this is a great chance for me to keep playing, keep fit and show the manager of the national team I want to be there, I have to be there. I don't know what would have happened if I had stayed at Chelsea."
