Why Spain will win Football World Cup 2010 and why Spain will lose
Watching Spain play soccer is like watching a piece of art. With 24 wins in their last 25 games, Spain is the natural favorite to win the World Cup. The Roja is a shining star among the 32 teams in the World Cup. We will look at what could stop Spain from winning its first ever World Cup, yes Spain has never won the World Cup.
Spain will face Saudi Arabia in a friendly at Innsbruck and that game will probably not put Spain's winning streak in jeopardy. Since it eliminated Italy in penalty kicks in the Euro 2008 quarter finals, la Roja won almost everything. It started a 15 game winning streak during a year and then won 9 consecutive games since June 2009, that including a flawless World Cup qualifying campaign. Spain made one mistake (if you can call it a mistake) was to lose the Confederations Cup final against the USA. A glimmer of hope was given to the other 31 World Cup finalist. The US have shown that a physical game, cohesion and an opportunistic mentality can put a stop to the red machine from Spain. If all goes well, they are unbeatable. With crisp quick passes and constant movement, there is always a solution for the ball carrier. When you confront Spain, you literally feel helpless. With a potential round of 16 clash against Brazil, Portugal or the Ivory Coast, Spain could face a big hurdle after the group stage.
Physical problems
Spain's key players , especially from Barcelona, have played two full consecutive seasons that included two long runs in the Champions League and a Confederations Cup final. In December 2009, Barcelona had to travel to Japan to play the World Cup of Clubs. This overcharge of work has hindered the key players for Spain. Fernando Torres was operated on his knee back in April2010 and might not be ready to play Spain's first game against Switzerland on June 16th. Cesc Fabregas is coming back from a fractured shin and will not be 100%. Add to the list Iniesta who did not play for a while and Xavi who played with an injured calf since the middle of April. Spain will need all the help it can get to have its key components come back healthy and ready to play on time.
Strong Pressure
When winning Euro 2008, all of Spain was talking about a Euro-World Cup double as it was celebrating the title. For the two years, Spain has been tagged as the World Cup favorite and will need to take their status seriously. Getting to the final and winning it has now become a mission, a mission that can become a burden. Many soccer fans are waiting Spain with a lot of expectations. Spain did not get many chances to get close to a World Cup final and this year might be the year for the Spaniards to win it all. As the whole world has tagged Spain as tournament favorite. This status is new to Spain and the pressure that comes with it needs to be properly managed. With pressure comes doubt and Spain has never been confronted to that.
Seeing Spain fail at the World Cup is not something new though. In 1998, after a flawless qualification round, Spain disappeared after losing to Paraguay and Nigeria in the group stage. The favorite falling early is a classical scenario when we see Brazil of 2006, France of 2002, the Brazil of the 80s, the Netherlands of 1974 or Hungary of 1954.
Spain is such a beautiful team to watch that it would be a shame to see them not make it at least to the semi-final stage. But the World Cup always holds its set of surprises.
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