Fernando Torres drops Euro 2016 hint

Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres said on Thursday that he would be delighted to return to the Spanish national team in the forthcoming European Championships.

The 32-year-old, who scored the winning goal in the 2008 European Championship final and was top scorer in the 2012 tournament, has netted 38 goals in 110 appearances for his country, but has not played since Spain's disappointing 2014 World Cup campaign.

However, his current run of form and the fact that Diego Costa has picked up a muscle injury mean that the striker, who has scored five of his 10 league goals for Atletico Madrid in the last month, could have an outside chance of making Vicente del Bosque's squad to play in France.

"I don't really like to talk about the question, because people might misunderstand me," said Torres, who nevertheless insisted he had "never been a problem for the national team and always given everything."

Torres also made it clear that he would be delighted to return to international action almost two years since his last appearance.

"If I didn't want to play in the European Championships, I would have officially retired from international football, and I have never done that. I hope I'm in the coach's (Del Bosque) plans. It has been two years since I played for them and it would be a surprise," commented Torres. Endit