Spain

Nickname: La Roja/La Seleccion (The Red/The Selection)
FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: 2

Spain enter this World Cup as possible favorites to win it all. They are making their 13th World Cup appearance, and their best finish was fourth place in 1950. Spain has been playing extremely well over the last few years, winning Euro 2008 and coasting through the qualifiers. Spain won all 10 of their matches during qualification and allowed only six goals while scoring 28.

La Roja were placed in Group H alongside Chile (ranked 18th), Switzerland (ranked 24th) and Honduras (ranked 38th). They are the heavy favorites to come out on top of this group, and that is only helped by the fact that they have never lost to any of the teams they were placed with. This Spanish team has a sickening amount of talent to draw from, and it will be a huge disappointment if they do not make a serious run at the cup.

Coach

Spain is coached by Vicente del Bosque, who took over from Luis Aragones after Spain won Euro 2008, and they seemingly haven’t missed a beat. In fact, the only game they lost under Del Bosque’s management was a semi-final loss to the USA in the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2009. Del Bosque has continued to encourage fast-paced, passing soccer that centers on having talented midfielders, which Spain has. Del Bosque has had a lot of experience and success at club levels, coaching Real Madrid when they were at the pinnacle of their success in 2000-2003. His real desire and passion, though, has always been to coach Spain, and he hopes to make the most of this opportunity.

Key Players

Spain is loaded with talented players at every position, and the only question seems to be picking the right ones to play together. Spain loves to play quick, passing soccer that relies on dominant midfielders, and that is exactly what they have in Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and David Silva. Xavi, who is the most experienced in the midfield, is amazing at organizing the midfield and is a very precise passer. Iniesta is the creative playmaker of the bunch, earning him the nickname “the illusionist.” He seems to fit into any position and loves to create opportunities for others. Fabregas is a young star on the rise who is able to score himself and create opportunities for others. Then there is Silva, who has amazing vision and passing ability. The biggest question in the midfield is who will get the most playing time, and that decision appears to have gotten a little easier for Del Bosque, but not in the way he wanted. Fabregas may not be available to play this World Cup as he recently broke his leg while playing for his club team, Arsenal. Spanish fans only hope he can get healthy and round out this amazing midfield.

Starring up front for Spain is the dynamic duo of Fernando Torres and David Villa. Torres is a well-rounded player with great acceleration and an ability to finish with both feet. Torres is only 25 and has already competed more than 70 times for Spain. He has been mentioned as one of the best in the world, and his teammate David Villa is not far behind him. Villa was the most prolific scorer in the world between 2005-2009 while playing for Valencia, and has not slowed down this year. Villa has not only starred for his club team but is already the second all-time goal scorer for Spain, and he’s only appeared in 54 games. This duo of Torres and Villa combined for six goals in only four matches during the 2006 World Cup and hope to improve on those numbers this year.

The stars don’t stop on the defensive end, thanks to the likes of Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos. Puyol is the leader and most experienced and can never be questioned about his effort. Pique is the physical one who is one of the best long ball passers around. Then there is Ramos, who was the youngest player to appear for Spain at the age of 19. That was only five years ago and Ramos has continued to improve since then. Ramos, who never seems to tire, has incredible speed and is very dangerous making runs up the sidelines and going on the attack.

Behind all these stars is possibly the best player of all, goalie Iker Casillas. Casillas is one of the best goalies in the world and never seems to have a lapse in play. He is also extremely experienced, having already played in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and he’s still only 29. Casillas is the captain for this team and has played more than 100 games for Spain. He is undoubtedly the leader of this team and hopes to push his team to success once again, having already won tournaments at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels.

With all this talent it is no wonder that hopes all across Spain are extremely high that they can finally win the biggest soccer trophy of them all.