FIFA World Cup 2014: Diego Costa, Fernando Torres make cut to Spain squad

Madrid: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has included Diego Costa in his final 23-man squad for the World Cup finals despite the Brazil-born forward’s recent injury woes.

The Atletico Madrid striker has been suffering with a series of muscle problems and limped out of last Saturday’s Champions League final against Real Madrid early in the first half.

Spain have one more warm-up game, against El Salvador in Washington DC on June 7, before the tournament in Brazil when Del Bosque can test Costa’s fitness.

If he does not recover sufficiently, Spain can replace him in the squad up to 24 hours before their opening Group B match against the Netherlands on June 13 as long as they can prove his injury is serious enough to prevent his participation.

As well as Costa, Del Bosque included fellow forwards Fernando Torres of Chelsea, who netted a penalty in Friday’s 2-0 friendly win against Bolivia in Seville, and David Villa, Spain’s record scorer.

There was no place for winger Jesus Navas, recovering from an ankle injury, or his Manchester City team mate Alvaro Negredo.

Meanwhile, Premier League top scorer Luis Suarez was included in Uruguay’s squad despite undergoing knee cartilage surgery nine days ago. The striker scored 31 goals for EPL runners-up Live-rpool.