David de Gea kept 18 Premier League clean sheets for Manchester United last term
David de Gea is “hopeful” Spain can repeat their World Cup triumph of 2010 at next month’s tournament in Russia.
Spain, who beat the Netherlands 1-0 after extra time in the final eight years ago, will play Iran, Morocco and European champions Portugal in Group B.
De Gea is looking forward to competing at the World Cup for the first time as Spain’s first-choice ‘keeper, with their campaign set to get underway against Portugal in just over two weeks.
“We have come off the back of a really excellent qualification campaign, and now it’s time for the best bit to get started,” the Manchester United ‘keeper told MUTV.
“So now for the good bit, the World Cup tournament itself, and let’s enjoy it and take things game by game and try and perform well and hopefully have a real go at it and maybe even win the World Cup.
De Gea has been named United’s player of the season four times in last five years
“It’s something really special, being able to pull on the Spanish national team shirt in a World Cup,” added De Gea, who previously captained the U21 side.
De Gea won Manchester United’s Player of the Year award for a fourth time in five years after winning the Premier League Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets and is optimistic about his team’s progress.
De Gea is looking forward to this summer’s tournament in Russia
“I’m just so keen for it all to get underway, both the games themselves and all the emotion, and let’s hope we can make the entire country really happy,” he added.
The 27-year-old made his senior international debut just before the 2014 World Cup but didn’t feature at the tournament in Brazil, in which Spain made a shock exit at the group stage as holders of the trophy.
