Diego Costa wants to play for Spain not Brazil

Costa in action for Atletico against Real Madrid

Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa has chosen to represent Spain over his native Brazil on the international football stage. FoxSport reports.

The Spanish football federation stated that Brazilian had ”verbally manifested his intention of playing with the national team” to the Spanish national coach Vicente Del Bosque.

The 42-year-old will not feature for Spain in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers due to the paperwork not coming through yet, the RFEF said on their website.

The striker has been in red hot form for Atletico, who jointly lead the La Liga table along with Barcelona. The player has been on target eight times in seven matches.

Spain, who are the reigning World Cup champions, will make the cut to next years World Cup if they win their matches against Belarus and Georgia.

A statement on the official website of the RFEF read:

“Diego Costa wants to play for the Spanish national team, although bureaucracy inhibits this for the moment. Atletico Madrid player Diego Costa can not be selected tomorrow by manager Vicente del Bosque for the upcoming games against Belarus and Georgia as FIFA have demanded additional paperwork, which is already being undertaken, even though the player has verbally expressed to the Spanish coach his desire to play for his national team in the future.”