MADRID — With a lone European Championship victory as hosts in 1964, ever-underachieving Spain are dreaming of their first run to the final since 1984 in what figures to be a wide open tournament this summer in Austria and Switzerland.
Star-studded as usual, La Furia Roja head into the finals with momentum and high spirits. After losing two of their first three qualifying matches to Northern Ireland and Sweden, the Iberians rebounded mightily to win seven of their final eight contests.
Furthermore, they have won their two friendlies since the end of qualifying: 1-0 victories over no less than reigning world champions Italy and the team they beat in the final of the 2006 World Cup, France.
It’s enough to have won controversial coach Luis Aragones some respite from a wildly sceptical Spanish public, who are cautiously expecting big things from the talented side.
The veteran boss realizes that Spain remain on the seemingly never-ending brink of an international breakthrough.
“We have been qualifying successfully for tournaments for many years, so this isn’t really a success,” he said after the side won preliminary Group F.
“We’re simply doing our duty by reaching the finals. At this point we’ve got to believe we can finally win a Euro because other teams worse than ours, like Greece or Denmark, have won this competition.”
After being eliminated at the first hurdle in Portugal four years ago thanks to the eventual champion Greeks and the goals-scored tiebreaker, the Spaniards reached the second round of the World Cup in Germany, where they succumbed to a veteran French team 3-1. The Spaniards have again been paired with Greece in Group D, where Russia and Sweden also await them.
Moving forward from world-class captain Iker Casillas in goal, Spain continue to ooze class in every position.
Barcelona’s captain Carles Puyol and Valencia’s Carlos Marchena will most likely form an athletic central defence, flanked impressively by Real Madrid starlet Sergio Ramos on the right and Villarreal wing-back Joan Capdevila down the left.
Stalwart holding midfielder David Albelda won’t figure after a tumultuous year with Valencia, but the midfield is still loaded with talent. Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso could fill the gap left by Albelda, while Barcelona duo Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta will combine with Arsenal ace and best young player in England, Cesc Fabregas, in moving the ball into attack.
