Euro 2012 Group C: Spain
GROUP C
[Team Jersey Images © Soccerphile]
Spain
Road to Poland & Ukraine
What a struggle it was for Spain to scrape through their qualifying group: no fewer than six conceded goals in eight games suggest a major decline in the world and European champions' fortunes. Scotland even managed to put two past Iker Casillas - the Real keeper reportedly considered early retirement after that disgraceful performance.
Of course, the Red Furies never really came close to dropping any points in the qualifiers, making sure of their spot in the final stage over 14 months before the event, but their narrow wins over Scotland and Czech Republic made more than one fan shake their heads in disbelief: what is the world coming to?
Of course, we are just kidding: Spain looked as if they could have qualified even if they had played every game with ten men. Frankly, the rivals were not fit for testing the strength of the world's team number one. When their strength was tested - by Argentina and Italy - things didn't look so splendid, but the champions need not shine in friendlies; that's for the losers.
* Results
Sep 3, 2010: Liechtenstein 0-4 Spain
Oct 8, 2010: Spain 3-1 Lithuania
Oct 12, 2010: Scotland 2-3 Spain
Mar 25, 2011: Spain 2-1 Czech Republic
Mar 29, 2011: Lithuania 1-3 Spain
Sep 6, 2011: Spain 6-0 Liechtenstein
Oct 7, 2011: Czech Republic 0-2 Spain
Oct 11, 2011: Spain 3-1 Scotland
Fixtures
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Spain Kit 1
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Spain Kit 2
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Spain v Italy 10 June; Gdansk
Spain v Ireland 14 June; Gdansk
Spain v Czech Republic; 18 June; Gdansk
Analysis
The Spanish national team is the fusion of the best domestic players from Barcelona and Real Madrid. Sounds pretty impressive, doesn't it?
These are the two strongest teams in the world, significantly superior to the closest followers like Manchester United, Manchester City and Milan (you won't see the Spanish giants lose to Basel or Sporting Lisbon like certain clubs from the Premiership). There is also a couple of players from Athletic Bilbao, who recently conquered Old Trafford, and Valencia, but the style deployed by Vicente del Bosque's squad is mainly that of Barcelona: the game of posession and passing.
Like Barca, Spain spin the ball around the rivals' defenses looking for, or creating, cracks through which to deliver a killer pass for Villa, Llorente, Soldado, Pedro or Torres. Spain's midfield is widely considered the best in the world, but all Del Bosque's men can play and participate in the offensive build-up.
Such is the skill of Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc, Silva or Alonso that many seem to disregard the team's defensive compactness. But it is precisely the defense that sets Spain apart from the rest: winning the World Cup without conceding a goal in six consecutive games is an achievement that will take some time to equal.
Key player: Xavi Hernandez
Spain's squad has so much width and depth that it would not resent the absence of any single player except for Xavi Hernandez (32). This is a central midfielder whose intelligence, vision, ball controll and the ability to read the game are uncanny. The diminutive mastermind has arguably been the most important Barcelona's player in history and it's only a matter of time before he receives the same recognition on the national level.
It is not a coincidence that both Barca's and Spain's golden eras have coincided with his active years. His peformance in the last European Championship in Austria and Switzerland earned him the award for the player of the tournament and only the contemporary presence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo deprived him of a Golden Ball or a FIFA's World Player award.
One to watch: Iker Muniain
The 19-year-old Basque is the new cub raised in the Lions' den of Athletic Bilbao. The multi-talented forward, effective as a left winger, second striker and offensive midfielder, became in September 2009 the youngest ever Athletic debutant in the Spanish First Division. A few weeks later, he also became the youngest goal-scorer in the Primera. Last year he was a member of the victorious Spain team at the U-21 European Championship and was voted the "Breakthrough Player" of the Spanish League. On the last day of February he made his debut in the senior national team in Malaga against Venezuela, coming on in the 75th minute for Cesc Fabregas. Muniain is in for some more glory since he is expected to feature for the Lions in the Copa del Rey finals next May against Barcelona. Should he continue to shine, a call-up for the Euros will not elude him.
Coach: Vicente del Bosque
This calm and silent man must have boiled inside after being sacked from Real Madrid in 2003 in spite of having won every imaginable trophy in little over three and a half years as the team's head coach. The chairman Florentino Perez replaced him with the far less renowned Carlos Queiroz allegedly because the Portuguese was more youthful, handsome and elegant, a more suitable poster boy for the most glamorous club in the world.
Del Bosque was not finished, however. Five years later he succeeded Luis Aragones on the Spain bench and immediately broke the record of most consecutive wins for a new national team coach with 13. Under his guidance Spain also set a new record for consecutive wins in absolute terms with 15, previously held by Brazil. The former Real Madrid player famously said his coaching success at Real was due to not intefering too much with the skills of Zidane, Raul, Ronaldo or Roberto Carlos. If this is his secret, then he must have brought his art of non-interference to utter perfection after taking charge of the Red Furies.
Record
1960 pulled out; 1968, 1972, 1976, 1992 Did not qualify; 1980, 1988, 2004 group stage; 1996, 2000 Quarter-finals; 1964, 2008 Winners
FIFA Ranking
How they qualified for Euro 2012
Spain waltzed through Group I undefeated.
On the sidelines
It took just seven years for David Villa to become his country's top scorer with 51 goals, ahead of Raul Gonzalez.
Soccerphile says
Will make it out of the group as winners and on to, at least, the semis. Spain's declared ambition is to make soccer history by becoming the first team to win three consecutive major titles, counting the world and continental championships. West Germany came closest to such a feat after winning the Euros in 1972 and the World Cup two years later. But, in the 1976 European finals Czechoslovakia upset the favourites with that decisive and legendary Antonin Panenka penalty. Spain could presumably pull it off if they manage to overcome their biggest obstacle, ironically none other than - Germany.
The Squad
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina, (Liverpool), Victor Valdes (Barcelona)
Defenders: Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Jordi Alba (Valencia), Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao)
Midfielders: Xavi (Barcelona), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), David Silva (Manchester City), Santi Cazorla (Malaga), Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona), Juan Mata (Chelsea)
Forwards: Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Pedro (Barcelona), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla)