Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has challenged his big-name players to show they are still hungry for more success at international level.
While previous La Roja stalwarts including Xavi Hernandez and Xabi Alonso retired from international football after the debacle at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, another group of players -- including Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, David Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro Rodriguez, Santi Cazorla and Sergio Busquets -- have won many caps and trophies, but in theory should be only reaching their peak around now.
Emerging stars in Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke, Real Madrid playmaker Isco and Juventus centre-forward Alvaro Morata all started in Friday's unsatisfactory 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifier win at home to Ukraine, but the 14 players who featured had an average of 57 caps each.
At his news conference ahead of Tuesday's friendly in Amsterdam against Netherlands, Del Bosque said his experienced players still needed to show they could achieve more on the international stage.
"We have a national team which is already formed, but we must not just be happy with what we have done before," the veteran coach said. "We must be rebellious. We do not have many players on the border of 30 years old, but these must be looking to end on a high."
Tuesday's game was not being seen as a chance to avenge the 5-1 hammering Spain suffered against Netherlands at last summer's World Cup, Del Bosque claimed.
"I have no thirst for revenge against the Netherlands," he said. "We are going to play a nice game and be up to the level of the opponent. They have been on the podium at the last two World Cups."
Del Bosque said that, despite what some critics think, Spain were bouncing back from their disastrous tournament in Brazil.
"Spain dominated world football during the last tournaments, but there is an impression of a drop in recent months," he said. "During this drop we have scored 14 goals and conceded just three. We have played four qualifying phases, 31 games, winning 28, with two draws and just one defeat. I believe it is not so bad. While recognising that since the World Cup we have not been good, I see good things, we are going in the right direction."
The former Real Madrid coach admitted that negative criticism after Friday's unconvincing victory over Ukraine in Seville had been at least in part fair.
"Before, the criticism was always favourable, and now there is a big focus on the negative," Del Bosque said. "When the criticism is so unanimous, maybe it is correct. We lost control of the game [in the second half] and allowed them to have many chances."
The starting XI for Tuesday's game is likely to be radically different from that which began against Ukraine, with players such as Manchester United's David De Gea, Bayern Munich's Juan Bernat, Malaga's Juanmi and Sevilla's Vitolo all set to feature.
"We want them all to play," Del Bosque said. "I believe it's a good idea to put out a new team tomorrow, because all those who did not play the other day are starters with their teams, they deserve it, and because of the stage of the season we are at."
Arsenal midfielder Cazorla, 30, a likely starter in Amsterdam, said the current mix of younger and older players would need time to settle into a team, and he for one was delighted to still be involved.
"Important players have left, but those coming in are full of motivation," he said. "Maybe we need some time. The group is united, and believes in what it is doing. That is the really important thing for us. To be able to represent my country is the biggest thing for me. In every game I go out to give everything for this jersey."
Cazorla also said that neither he nor his teammates were spending much time this week thinking about the 5-1 hammering last summer.
"The Netherlands are a great national team," he said. "Tomorrow will be a difficult game. For us all games are important. It does not matter if it is a friendly or competitive game. At the World Cup, the Netherlands were better than us, but tomorrow will be a different game. We are not thinking about what happened in Brazil."