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Pepe Reina has expressed his delight at the announcement that Vicente del Bosque is to continue as Spain coach.
Del Bosque confirmed on Thursday that he had been given the green light by the Spanish Football Federation to lead the national team into the 2016 European Championships in France, despite the team's shock early exit from the World Cup.
The 31-year-old Liverpool goalkeeper - a member of Del Bosque's squad in Brazil as well as the victorious campaigns at the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championships - gave his backing to the coach, whose fine reputation has taken a battering since Spain were sent packing from the World Cup following heavy defeats to Holland and Chile.
"It's phenomenal news. I've always said that Del Bosque was the right man for the job at this moment, so I'm delighted," Reina told Spanish radio station Onda Cero.
"We all have to start working together from September so we have a good team for the European Championship."
The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and qualityShow all 32 1 /32The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 1 Costa Rica By far the biggest overachievers, and came a penalty kick from something even more historic.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 2 Colombia The most exciting team in the tournament, and made history in their best ever World Cup.
The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 3 Argentina The semi-final was their “minimum objective” but they are on the brink of maximum achievement.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 4 Germany The time has come for their revolution to produce a true-end product. They’ve at least set up the chance.
The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 5 Netherlands Louis van Gaal made a young side look so much more mature, and they greatly exceeded expectation.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 6 Algeria A revelation in getting to the second round, while playing some refreshingly progressive football.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 7 Chile Although they did not get as far as they could have, there was a deeper merit in how close they came to eliminating the hosts.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 8 France A deflating last match should not completely overshadow the rejuvenating campaign that preceded it.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 9 Belgium Didn’t flop like many feared, but never fired in what was a weirdly forgettable campaign.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 10 Mexico Recovered their spirit after an awful qualifying campaign, and came close to doing so much better.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 11 USA A campaign about more than their impressive second-round finish, because of the emotional momentum it generated.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 12 Nigeria Became the first African side to reach the second round for a third time, which is all the more creditable given the off-field ructions.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 13 Greece Didn’t win much admiration for their football, but deserve huge respect for getting to the brink of the quarter-finals.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 14 Ghana The team whose end results at least matched their performances. Had simple luck gone a different way, they could have been quarter-finalists.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 15 Iran It is always almost impossible for them to get through, but the impressiveness of their displays brought respect.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 16 Switzerland The thrashing to France rendered their seed status ridiculous, but were resilient against Argentina.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 17 Uruguay Humiliated themselves worse than any thrashing with the reaction to the Luis Suarez incident, and played poorly after it.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 18 Ecuador Didn’t get through, but played supremely in every game, and paid a fine tribute to the tragically departed Chucho Benitez.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 19 Croatia Two excellent performances, but dropped off badly just when it mattered.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 20 Australia Lost all of their games, but came encouragingly close to winning the important first two.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 21 Ivory Coast A fortunate first win, but not much else, which sums up a generation who under-performed.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 22 Bosnia and Herzegovina A baffling second game undid what should have been a special first World Cup.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 23 Honduras Beaten as expected, but responded with an unsavoury aggression of their own.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 24 Japan That they still had a chance of reaching the second round in the final game seems irrelevant, because they never looked like seizing it.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 25 South Korea Thrashed in their most winnable game, which says a lot about a forgettable campaign.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 26 England Only one point, only one acceptable performance and very few positives.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 27 Russia A poor third place, even worse performances. Dismal.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 28 Brazil A semi-final place simply pales next to what may be the most haunting defeat of their entire history.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 29 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo will never now have his great World Cup, Portugal just looked like an average team.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 30 Italy A side with that kind of talent shouldn’t have gone out so early. So poor after the first game.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 31 Spain A fourth successive trophy was always a stretch, but the abiding memory is how badly it was all pulled apart.
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The alternative World Cup winners based on expectations and quality 32 Cameroon Shambolic off the pitch and on it, this was possibly the worst World Cup campaign ever.
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Reina is set to report for pre-season training with Liverpool in the coming days, returning to Brendan Rodgers' side after spending a year on loan in Serie A with Napoli.
The Spaniard was unable to shed any light on whether he will be battling Simon Mignolet for the number one jersey at Anfield next season, but said he was pleased to be returning to Merseyside.
"I still have two years on my contract with Liverpool, I was there for eight years, I love the city and the people there have treated me very well," said Reina.
"Last year I ended up at Napoli, it went very well for me there and I grew as a player but now I'm going back to Liverpool and raring to go."
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