Few international football coaches are blessed with as richly talented a group of players at their disposal as Spain’s. Any team featuring Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Iker Casillas and Gerard Piqué will be a force to be reckoned with, but by any standards, Vicente del Bosque has achieved extraordinary things, leading his team to the European Championship title in 2012, two years after lifting the World Cup. Del Bosque’s predecessor, Luis Aragonés, started Spain’s current domination of international football by winning the 2008 European title. But former Real Madrid player and coach Del Bosque has managed to keep his players both united and hungry for further glory. And in the process, he … [Read more...] about Vicente del Bosque
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Spain’s golden generation rewrites history
Spanish captain Iker Casillas was at it again on Sunday night. Though he has long been crowned San Iker by his club fans, he may just have performed the three miracles needed to obtain sainthood. The culmination of the three-week tournament played in Poland and Ukraine ended with the goalkeeper lifting the Henri Delaunay trophy for the second time. In between European championships, La Roja were also crowned world champions in South Africa 2010. In the final, Spain gave a commanding performance in a 4-0 rout of Italy, a side they had failed to beat over 90 minutes for 98 years. Their route to the final began against the very same team, and the Azzurri were the only side to have scored … [Read more...] about Spain’s golden generation rewrites history
Euro thriller against Croatia highlights Spain’s need for goals
It took a whole 88 minutes and a careful finish by Jesús Navas, but Spain have qualified from their group to advance to the quarterfinals and keep alive their dreams of winning three major international tournaments back-to-back. Just. The relief was palpable. Before the breakthrough came, with Italy winning against the Republic of Ireland in the tightly contested group, a Croatia goal would have sent the reigning European and world champions home. The Spanish TV commentators insisted that everything was fine and going according to plan, but a nation was biting its nails, hurling abuse at the screen and collectively holding its breath as Iker Casillas was forced to make two crucial … [Read more...] about Euro thriller against Croatia highlights Spain’s need for goals
Spain wary of over-familiarity in Euro 2012 campaign
On a balmy night in summer 2008, ‘San Iker’ Casillas ascended new heights of sainthood when he stopped two penalties against Italy in the European Championships. It was to prove a significant turning point for the Spanish national soccer side, which had previously gone out of three major tournaments in the quarter-finals on penalties – the World Cups of 1986 and 2002 and Euro '96 – curiously on the very same date, June 22. They of course went on to win the competition and two years later lift the World Cup in South Africa. The game and the tournament also signalled a more complete change of fortunes for La Roja, the national side that had always had an embarrassment of riches when it … [Read more...] about Spain wary of over-familiarity in Euro 2012 campaign
Why Spain are still the team to fear
After Spain equalled the record held by Holland and France of 14 consecutive victories in official competition with their comfortable 3-1 win against Scotland on Wednesday, among the many platitudes meted out by players and staff of La Roja was a rather frank appraisal by Santi Cazorla. “The way we are playing at the moment we are favourites to win the European Championship,” the Málaga midfielder said in an unusual instance of a footballer voicing an opinion. It was a far cry from the standard Spanish players’ fare of slightly awkward modesty and explaining to the camera that it’s one game at a time. But Cazorla is quite correct. Spain will be the overwhelming favourite when the … [Read more...] about Why Spain are still the team to fear
Torres’ patchy form hints at world champions’ decline
Whisper it quietly, but not all is fresh in the state of Spain. When Vicente del Bosque's team lifted the World Cup in 2010 –adding to the European Championship title La Roja won in 2008 under Luis Aragonés– the world prostrated itself at the feet of the slickest passing side in history. Among Spain's players, there was a consensus that the tournament in Austria and Switzerland had proved an epiphany. Aragonés had largely removed the cult of idolatry by removing Raúl from the squad; he had, as Xavi put it recently, taken a gamble by betting on the bajitos –himself, Andrés Iniesta, Cesc Fàbregas, Davids Villa and Silva, for example– and Spain finally beat its bête noire, Italy, and the … [Read more...] about Torres’ patchy form hints at world champions’ decline