Spain’s Iker Casillas is regarded as the top goalie at the World Cup.
The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet, beginning its month-long quest to crown a champion June 11 in South Africa. Thirty-two teams enter this tournament, but only seven countries have ever won, including two (England and France) that only prevailed on their home soil.
Spain enters the 2010 World Cup as the 9/2 favorite, slightly ahead of five-time champion Brazil at 5/1. Spain is widely regarded as one of the best nations (along with Netherlands) to have never won the World Cup, but will this finally be the year that ‘La Furia Roja’ reaches expectations?
Despite being armed with one of soccer’s top leagues in La Liga that annually produces great players for the home country, Spain’s best World Cup finish was a fourth-place effort back in 1950.
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Coach Vicente del Bosque’s team is trying to follow in the footsteps of West Germany and France by holding the European Championship and World Cup titles at the same time. However, no European team has ever won the World Cup when played outside of Europe.
Spain was impressive during its World Cup qualifying run, winning all 10 of its games by a combined score of 28-5. The squad was very similar to the team that won Euro 2008, helping the Spanish qualify for last year’s Confederations Cup in South Africa.
Spain dominated in Confederations Cup group play that included future World Cup participants South Africa and New Zealand, winning all three of its games by a combined score of 8-0. Many experts were expecting a Spain-Brazil finally until the United States upset Spain in the semifinals, 2-0.
Spain recovered to capture third place against the South Africans, 3-2.
‘La Furia Roja’ appears to have drawn an extremely favorable group to advance to the knockout stage in South Africa. Spain will be paired with Switzerland, Honduras and Chile in Group H. Chile figures on being the most formidable foe with World Cup future odds improving from 80/1 to 30/1.
Switzerland has seen its odds improve from 125/1 to 100/1 to win the World Cup, while Honduras is the Group H long shot moving from 350/1 to 200/1.
The top two teams advance to the knockout stage, and winning Group H is crucial to a long tournament run. The top team will face the second-place team in Group G which is also known as the Group of Death. That quartet of squads features powerhouse teams Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast. Figuring on Brazil winning Group G, avoiding them until the finals is a much more favorable position than a second-round meeting.
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Spain is currently listed as the 1/4 ‘chalk’ to win Group H, while Chile is 4/1, Switzerland is 20/1 and Honduras is 20/1. Spain enters this year’s World Cup as the second-ranked team behind Brazil, while Chile is 18th, Switzerland is 24th and Honduras is 38th.
Coach del Bosque’s team will be led by the scoring tandem of forwards David Villa and Fernando Torres, but Torres is coming off April knee surgery and his fitness might be an issue.
Young players Juan Mata and Gerard Pique also provided a scoring bunch with three goals apiece in qualifying.
Goaltender and captain Iker Casillas figures on bolstering the Spanish defense, hoping to get Spain off the short list of best countries to have never won the World Cup.