Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque credits the Premier League with helping his national players become the dominant force they are in international football. "It's been absolutely vital that we've had such a crop of players play in the Premier League, and young players too," said the coach.
"I've always said it's been one of the key factors that's helped us achieve our success at international level.
"By travelling abroad and having players in different leagues like the Premier League has enabled us to shed that complex that we always used to have when playing at international level."
Barcelona midfielder Xavi agreed that the willingness of players to move to English clubs has been of enormous benefit to Spain.
"It can only be a good thing for the national side that our players get to travel and play abroad," he said on Friday.
"In the case of the Premier League you have the likes of David Silva, Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres who have played here.
"They've benefited from the high tempo and physicality of the English game.
"That's brought positives to the Spanish national side.
"Over the last decade we've seen more and more Spaniards play abroad.
"That's never happened before and is positive for the national team."
