Santi Cazorla says Spain has always been “obsessed” with the World Cup.
Vicente del Bosque’s side start their defence of the trophy when they take on the Netherlands in Salvador on Friday.
They are going for an unprecedented fourth consecutive major tournament success, and Cazorla admits he is desperate to play in the competition.
"It's a dream for me to play in a World Cup, especially after the last one in South Africa"
“I think that Spain as a country has always been obsessed with the World Cup,” he told Arsenal Player. “We often spoke about the different World Cups throughout history.
“For Spain, it was always a pain, getting so far and then getting knocked out and when you're young a lot of people talk about it.
“The 1994 one was the first one I can remember. Among my clearest memories, like for a lot of other people, is (Diego) Maradona and what he did.
“My favourite was probably the last one. For everyone in Spain, getting to the final and then Andres Iniesta's goal… for the whole country it was great.
“It's a dream for me to play in a World Cup, especially after the last one in South Africa and what we achieved.
“It's probably the last chance for a few of us to play at the World Cup, so I want to seize the opportunity and do my utmost to enjoy it.”
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