Football Betting
World Cuo Betting
When Iker Casillas lifted the Euro 2008 trophy in Vienna last July it ended forty four years of major tournament disappointment for Spain. Despite producing some of the world’s best players over four decades, with the exception of the 1984 European Championships (when they were beaten finalists) they have regularly failed to perform at major championships.
How many times in the run up to the World Cup Finals have we looked at the talent on show in the Spain side and made a case for them to win? Every single time the tournament comes round we talk up Spain’s chances before they frequently succumb to inferior opposition.
With home advantage in 1982 they lost to Northern Ireland and drew with England. In 1986 they went out to Belgium, in 1990 to Yugoslavia and in 1994 to Italy. 1998 saw them draw with Paraguay and lose to Nigeria as they went out in the first round before they were eliminated by South Korea in 2002 and France in 2006.
In the last thirty years, then, Spain have rarely troubled the later stages of the World Cup, never mind looking like they will win it. In a similar story to England, something in the psyche seems to affect players at major tournaments and they rarely perform as well as their talent would suggest.
All this changed, however, around 2007. Under the guidance of Luis Aragones (and later Vincente del Bosque) Spain went on a world record run of thirty five games unbeaten including fifteen consecutive wins. In the middle of this run was their triumph at Euro 2008 where Aragones side beat Russia, Sweden, Greece, Italy and Germany on the way to their second major title.
Whilst performance at the European Championships is no real guide to the outcome of the subsequent World Cup, it is impossible to ignore the importance of the breakthrough they made in Switzerland and Austria. Previously always the bridesmaids, Spain finally showed that they were capable of lifting a major trophy and the confidence the side were given by that result is clear to see.
Since then Spain have gone from strength to strength, with a perfect record of ten wins out of ten in qualifying, including a 5-2 win away at their nearest rivals Bosnia. The only blot on their recent copybook was their 2-0 Confederations Cup defeat to the USA in June.
Looking at the current team, it is impossible to discount their chances. Four Four Two magazine recently named nine Spaniards in their “Top 50 Players In The World” and any team that can boast a midfield including Marcos Senna, David Silva, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas must be a serious threat. With David Villa and Fernando Torres as striking options and the likes of Dani Guiza, Santi Cazorla and Xabi Alonso waiting in the wings, there’s no shortage of talent.
Where Spain may come unstuck, however, is defensively. Whilst Marcos Senna is protecting the back four they look generally secure despite not being able to call on the world’s best defenders. Sergio Ramos, Joan Capdevila, Carlos Marchena and Carlos Puyol make up the back four and whilst they have almost two hundred and thirty caps between them they have conceded to Bosnia, Macedonia, South Africa and Armenia in recent matches. Del Bosque can call on the young talents of Real Madrid’s Raul Albiol and Barcelona’s Gerard Pique but the twenty four year olds haven’t much big game experience.
Spain are 9/2 favourites for the World Cup and with their recent experience and quality squad there are many who will back them to win back-to-back international tournaments. I’m not so sure. Whilst it is impossible to ignore their success at Euro 2008, we should remember that their performance at previous World Cups has been less than impressive, even when they arrived with a terrifically talented squad.
Del Bosque also has some tough decisions to make in terms of personnel. Spain improved markedly at Euro 2008 when Fabregas was brought into a five man midfield at the expense of striker David Villa and balancing a midfield including Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta, Silva, Senna and the Arsenal captain will be difficult. They clearly have a lot of talent but I can’t help feeling that we have been through all this before, only to see the talented Iberians fail to turn up on the big stage when it matters.
Football Betting - World Cup Betting
