Spain
Factsheet:
Euro 2012 Group C: 10-06-12: Spain-Italy, 14-06-12: Spain - Rep. of Ireland, 18-06-12: Croatia -Spain
FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking: 1
Previous European Championship Appearances: 1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008
Qualifying record: 8+8=0-0 26-6
Interesting facts: Spain won all of their 8 matches to directly qualify for the Euro
2012.
Iker Casillas holds the all-time record for the
most matches played for Spain. He has been a part of a match 131 times so far.
Spain has the chance to become the first ever team to
win three major trophies in a row.
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Spain has shown incredible football at the last two
major tournaments. The previous coach Luis Aragones decided to focus on the
technical abilities of the players as the Spanish players turned to be weaker
in physical duels. The strategy brought much more than expected – two trophies
in a row. Of course, the current manager Vicente Del Bosque would not change
much in the tactics for the World Cup to follow the Euro 2008 triumph. He just
added a little bit of pragmatism – his team won the World Cup for the first
time, scoring only 8 and conceding 2 goals in 7 matches. However, they scored
more than 3 goals on an average game during their qualification to Euro 2012.
Considering the absence of their main goalscorer David Villa, the final number
of goals scored at Euro 2012 should be comparable to the one at the previous
World Cup.
The Group C, where the current title holders are
drawn, assumes 3 big matches against Italy, Croatia and Republic of Ireland.
Some of the recent friendly results have not been too inspiring for the Spanish
fans, but everybody is still aware – Spain is the most dangerous team in the
planet nowadays.
Statistics against Italy: 29+8=10-11 29-38*
The match we remember: Spain won all of their
matches during the Euro 2008 except the one against Italy in quarterfinals,
when the match ended 0:0 and only misses from De Rossi and Di Natale in the
after-match penalty shoot-outs let the Spaniards overcome the hurdle of reigning
World Champions.
The match we remember: The confident
Spaniards seemed to win a World Cup 2002 last sixteen match, when Robbie Keane got the chance to
equalize from a penalty on the very last minute. The Spaniards won, however,
that evening after post-match penalties missed by Matt Holland, David Connoly
and Kevin Kilbane.
The match we remember: Teams have never met at any tournament before.
Two profiles:
Andres Iniesta: Who is more important – Xavi or Iniesta? I
picked the second one, as he scores more than Xavi, is 4 years younger and is
more popular among the fans. This 28 year old genius is the type of a player
that dedicates his career to one single club – a rare philosophy in the modern
football.
He has already won each and
every tournament he played with his club and national team. Seems like Iniesta
is made for the teams he plays. He fits perfectly in the tactics his coaches
suggest. His feet and decisions are normally too quick to be responded by the
opponent.
Andres Iniesta has been
developing ever since he appeared in the national team. In 2006 he was a
talented youngster to come in as a substitute, in 2008 he was one of the key
players to help Spain win the European Championship, and during the World Cup
2010 he received the Man of the Match award three times. It is not strange that
Iniesta’s goal gave the Spaniards their first ever World Cup trophy in 2010. How
does Andres Iniesta’s next level look like?
Sergio Busquets: He is one of the unsung heroes of FC Barcelona
and Spain national football team. However, real football fans know how
important Busquet’s role is every time his team produces a wonderful match.
Busquets is the second
youngest player in the current Spain squad, but his role is under no doubt in
Del Bosque’s tactics. The 23 year old midfielder has already earned 39
international caps. He played all the seven matches during the victorious World
Cup in South Africa. He doesn’t usually score goals, but his reliability and
mature play in his own half make him one of the 2-3 players responsible for the
whole Tiki-taka defence. Try to notice him on the pitch, and you’ll understand Busquet’s
importance for the Spanish national team.
My prediction:
The famous Tiki-taka philosophy has received some
damage recently, as La Roja Furia lost a couple of friendly matches and FC
Barcelona did not reach the Champions League final. This can be explained by
the absence of David Villa, who is, by the way, the all-time top scorer of
Spain national football team, and the age of Xavi Hernandez, 32, – the brain of
the strategy. Another argument could be their fatigue, which doesn’t get many
chances to improve under such a tough timetable. For instance, the FC Barcelona
and Athletic Bilbao players were supposed to play a match against each other only
2 weeks before the Euro 2012 kick-off.
Another headache for Del Bosque is the injury of David
Villa. His position has to be occupied by one of the two Fernandos – Llorente
or Torres. None of them is even close to the player, who scored most goals at
both Euro 2008 and WC 2010. Another blow is the injury of Puyol, who will miss
the tournament due to a knee injury. However, despite the absence of this
inspiring center-back, Spain doesn’t plan to concede lots of goals. Their
famous tactics assumes ball possession, as the team usually doesn’t concede
when possessing the ball.
There are thousands of articles written about the
strong sides of the reigning champions. I would just mention the confident play
of their glorious captain and number 1 – Iker Casillas, ultra-effective Sergio
Ramos and the double trouble for any defense – the Xavi – Iniesta duo. But
still, I see the Spanish superteam repeat the dramatic destiny of FC Barcelona
in Champions League this season, meeting a tough defense-minded team in the
semi-final. So, no more fiestas in the Spanish streets for the summer of
2012.
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* 6+2=3-1 7-7: played 6, won 2, tied 3, lost 1,
scored 7, conceded 7
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