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Spain's best ever World Cup finish came 60 years ago when they reached the semi-finals in the 1950 World Cup hosted by Brazil. In 2006, Spain crashed out against eventual runners-up France in the Round of 16. This was deemed as a huge disappointment after the Spaniards showed signs of putting together a solid run in the group stages.

Spain did convert years of promise into silverware by winning Euro 2008, playing some scintilating football along the way. Spain then participated in the Confederations Cup 2009 hosted by South Africa and were on a world record equalling 15 game winning streak before they were shocked by the United States in the semi-finals. The Americans ended Spain's undefeated streak with a 2-0 beating and went on the finals to face Brazil.

The Spaniards have been placed in Group H with Switzeland, Honduras and Chile. Ranked 2nd in the world, the European Champions are expected to win all three games and bull doze their way through to the knockout stages against these World Cup minnows.

Spain played out a perfect qualification round by winning all of their 10 games. Vicente Del Bosque's team scored 28 goals and conceded just 5, portraying their dominance on both halves of the field. Spain's qualifying group consisted of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Belgium, Estonia and Armenia.

The Spaniards open their World Cup campaign with a clash against Switzerland. The organised Swiss should be easy to tackle for them to carve open. Honduras' qualification was a huge surprise for everyone in the footballing world and a miracle in the competition by defeating favourites Spain may be a little too much to imagine. Chile are the highest ranked amongst Spain's early opponents and with experienced coach Marcelo Bielsa at the helm and a fantastic qualification run behind them, one could easily see this being Spain's toughest game. One does expect them though to still top the group and qualify for the knockout rounds.

Key Players:

Iker Casillas - Regarded as the best goalkeeper of his generation, Iker Casillas, the captain of Spain and Real Madrid, is a key player in the highly attack minded Spanish team. With his superhuman reflexes and ability to pull off miraculous saves, the goalkeeper would look to build on his brilliant qualifying campaign which saw him keep 4 clean sheets. The commanding goalkeeper will be fully motivated to add the biggest trophy of his already glittering cabinet.

Fernando Torres - El Nino has to be amongst one of the most feared strikers in world football today. He has scored at over 2 goals every 3 games in the Premier League since his move from Atletico Madrid, and is now attracting the attention of some of the biggest clubs on the planet. Torres while not prolific at the international level yet, has scored some crucial goals, including the winner against Germany in the Euro 2008 final. His deadly partnership with David Villa is a certain nightmare for any defence. With a frustrating season at Liverpool due to injuries and a poor show in front of goal in qualifiers, he has a lot of catching up to do, and the World Cup is just the stage to do it on. However, the biggest question remains whether he would be 100% fit following a recent knee surgery.

Xavi Hernandez - After a sublime performance in Euro 2008 for Spain, followed by a 6-trophy run in 2009 with Barcelona, Xavi Hernandez is now regarded as one of the best playmakers the game has ever seen. He orchestrates the game, sets the tempo and dictates the game almost at will. Spanish fans are rightly expecting big performances this summer from their star midfielder.

Team:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Jose Reina (Liverpool) Victor Valdes (Barcelona).

Defenders: Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid) Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergi Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao) David Silva (Valencia), Xavi (Barcelona).

Forwards: Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia) Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla), Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC) and David Villa (Valencia).

Top Goal Scorers: David Villa(38), Fernando Torres(23)

Most Capped Players: Iker Casillas(102), Xavi Hernández(84)

Form Guide: (WWWWW)

Nov 14, Spain 2-1 Argentina
Nov 18, Austria 1-5 Spain
Mar 03, France 0-2 Spain
May 29, Spain 3-2 Saudi Arabia
June 09, Spain 6-0 Poland

Fixtures:

16-Jun: Spain vs. Switzerland 3:00pm (GMT) - Match Report
21-Jun: Spain vs. Honduras 7:30pm (GMT) - Match Report
25-Jun: Chile vs. Spain 7:30pm (GMT)

Team Trivia

Spain became the first country to be eliminated by a toss of a coin in a play-off match against Turkey after the game ended 2-2 on 17th march, 1954. The Euro 2008 champions are aiming to be the first European country to win the World Cup outside their continent.

Also Read:

Group Competitior Previews: Chile, Honduras, Switzerland

Group H Preview

File Photograph Copyright: Alfonso Jimenez

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