La Furia Roja has basically steamrolled over opponents the last 4 years, winning 41 of 44 matches, only losing their match against the USA in the 2009 Confederations Cup. Spain booked their ticket as one of the World Cup contenders when they won Euro 2008. In the past, for Spain, it had not been a matter or whether or not they had the talent, but rather if they had the mental toughness. With the Euro 2008 win, they proved to themselves that they could win the big games. Sure, they did have a minor hiccup in the quarterfinal against Italy. It was a “gut check” for Spain. Would they fold like they had done many times in the past and continue to bear the tag of “perennial underachievers” or would they persevere. Spain eventually won 4-2 on penalty kicks and in this manner, Spain was able to exorcise some ghosts from its past.

One ghost was the fact that Spain had not beaten Italy in a major competition since the 1920 Olympics. Italy is the defending World Cup champion and always seems to bring its “A’ game to the World Cup. Although Italy did not have a very good Euro 2008 and were not very impressive during their world cup qualification, many people still believe that to win the World Cup, Italy is one of the teams to beat. And Spain showed they could do that. Spain also avenged the 1994 World Cup 2-1 loss to Italy in the quarterfinals. In the dying moments of that game, Spain were denied a penalty in their favour, when Italian defender Tassoti broke Spain’s Luis Enrique’s nose with an intentional elbow in the box. There was no call on the play but Tassoti was banned for 8 games by FIFA after an “investigation”. You would have to assume they used video evidence since the officials at the game did not make any call. Which begs the question, why did FIFA not penalize Henry for his handball after video review? And how come Cebolla gets 4 games for something that only the referee saw, and obviously didn’t cause Heinze any injury. But I digress.

Another ghost was the 2002 World Cup quarterfinal loss to Korea in which Spain outplayed Korea but at the end of regulation time, both teams were tied 0-0. Spain had two goals disallowed. First, Spain scored a goal early in the second half, but it was disallowed because Helguera was accused of a (phantom) pull on the Korean defender’s shirt. And in extra time, Morientes headed a cross into the net, but the linesman incorrectly judged that the ball has gone out of bound before being crossed into the box. Still, Spain had an opportunity to beat Korea on penalty kicks. But Casillas did not stop any of the penalty kicks and two Spanish shooters also failed. Eventually, Spain lost 5-3 on penalty kicks to Korea. So, Spain’s win over Italy had added significance because they were able to win on penalty kicks. I know many La Celeste fans cringe at the thought of penalty kicks, it is our kryptonite. Here was Spain facing one of the world’s premier goalkeepers in Buffon and Casillas out duelled Buffon by saving 2 penalty kicks.

Talent-wise, the Spanish team has incredible depth. While some teams are still pondering whom their starting eleven will be, coach del Bosque is probably busy picking straws to figure out whom he can use as substitutes.

The starting goalkeeper without a doubt will be Casillas. Liverpool’s Reina is the undisputed “back-up”. On any other team, he would probably be the starter. He is also the consummate team player, never complains about being second fiddle to Casillas. He is a funny guy who keeps his teammates loose; we can all probably remember him in the Youtube clip, acting as MC during the Spanish team’s presentation in Madrid after Euro 2008. Barcelona’s Valdes should be on the team; in the 2008–09 season, he was La Liga’s top goalkeeper. But he has been quoted as saying he would only go if he is the starter, but that’s not going to happen. Also, it seems he is very nationalistic, from a Catalan point-of-view. So, instead expect Villarreal’s Lopez.

On the defense, if you keep the Euro 2008 line-up (and there should be no reason not to), you would have Ramos, Puyol, Marchena and Capdevila. Ramos is probably the most inconsistent of the four, specially the way he plays for Real Madrid, but his offensive skill at the fullback position keeps him in the starting line-up. Ironically, Ramos has been forced to play as a centerback with Real Madrid due to injuries, the most notable being Pepe’s, and since Cannavaro returned to Juventus. I was hoping that could have been an opportunity for Uruguay’s Kagelmacher to move up to Real Madrid’s A team but it did not happen. And Puyol has been playing at fullback, also, due to injuries and since Caceres was dispatched to Juventus which actually was a great career move for Caceres. Ramos, Puyol, Marchena and Capdevila have good chemistry together. During the course of the past two years, del Bosque has also capped Real Madrid’s Albiol and Arbeloa, as well as Barcelona’s Pique. Arbeloa and Pique moved to the English Premier League to make a name for themselves, but now have returned to the clubs where they originated. So even one of the four starters gets injured, any of three backups can step in.

Coach del Bosque toughest decision will be to pick four starting midfielders from a group that includes Xavi, Iniesta, Senna, Alonso, Cazorla, Fabregas, Silva, Mata and Busquets. Tough decision? Add to this already great list of candidates, some of the younger generation players like Sevilla’s Navas and Capel, Valencia’s Pablo Hernandez and wonder-boy Canales. Iniesta, Xavi and Senna are probably locked in place. Xavi was Euro 2008 MVP, but it was evident by Iniesta’s absence in the Confederations Cup, that Iniesta is a very vital part of the midfield. And Senna is an absolute bulldog as a defensive midfielder. So that means 1 starting midfielder has to be picked from the list of candidates. Who will it be?

In the forward position, Torres and Villa are also locked in place. del Bosque has to choose from Guiza, Llorente (Bilbao) or Negredo (Sevilla). There had been a big push by fans to cap Barcelona’s Bojan Krkic for Euro 2008 because it was rumoured that he would otherwise play for Serbia (sounds similar to Uruguay’s Boghossian situation?). Bojan denied the rumours and was eventually capped for a friendly versus Armenia in 2009. However, this year, Bojan has seen a considerable reduction of his club playing time. Barcelona teammate Pedro Rodriguez has outshone Krkic and proven to be quite a sniper. In fact, on December 19, 2009, he became the only player in history to score in six different club competitions: La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League, European Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. Lastly, the cries for Raul’s inclusion onto the national team have subsided. Since Real Madrid purchased Benzema, Raul has been relegated to the bench although Benzema has been largely dysfunctional. And so Raul’s goal production is down this year.

So can Spain once again remove the tag of “perennial underachievers”? After Euro 2008, they became the first country to be ranked 1^st by FIFA without having won the World Cup. They have the chemistry and the talent required to become the world champions. But, do they have the “cojones”?

   

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