Chelsea Striker Diego Costa Rested by Spain After Agreement With Jose Mourinho

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque has not included Chelsea's Diego Costa in his squad for the European Championship qualifiers against Belarus on 15 November and a friendly game against World Cup champions Germany three days later, after Jose Mourinho's concerns about the striker's fitness.

After playing for Spain against Slovakia and Luxembourg during the last international break, the striker missed four Chelsea games - against Crystal Palace, Maribor, Manchester United and Shrewsbury.

Even though Spain's' doctor, Jose Garcia Cota, then told IBTimes UK the player didn't pick up an injury whilst on international duty, Mourinho blamed Del Bosque for his struggling situation before returning to action against QPR on Saturday 1 November.

The Portuguese manager said the forward will still need special care.

Del Bosque has now finally decided to give some rest to Costa for next week's international games.

"Spanish doctors and Chelsea doctors have been in contact and agreed to give Costa a rest," said del Bosque.

"But this doesn't mean he will not play for Chelsea against Liverpool. He is eager to come with us but he has some hassles."

Meanwhile, the Spanish boss has named Costa's teammates Cesc Fabregas and Cesar Azpilicueta, Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, and Arsenal's Santi Cazorla.

However, Manchester City playmaker David Silva has been ruled out due to an injury, while United's Juan Mata has been excluded once again after he fell out of favour with manager Louis van Gaal during the last games.